MYSTERY SHOPPING THREAD XII - ** New people please read posts 1 & 2 **

tomla

adoresabargain wrote: »

If I went to a supermarket and had to buy certain items to a value of £5 and was then reimbursed the £5 and I kept the goods is this not classed as income?
Sorry to be a pain but I am doing my tax return online and dont want to put down as income when they are classed as expenses.

I dont ever do those kind of jobs so couldnt answer; As i said call the tax office in the morning and they will answer it easily.

mharzuk

adoresabargain wrote: »

If I went to a supermarket and had to buy certain items to a value of £5 and was then reimbursed the £5 and I kept the goods is this not classed as income?
Sorry to be a pain but I am doing my tax return online and dont want to put down as income when they are classed as expenses.

I'm sure kellyshay will be able to explain it better but if you keep the purchases then it is payment in kind and is counted towards your pay (that means its taxable) unless you give it to charity then it is not taxable.
If you have to consume the product as part of the assignment (burger, pizza, beer etc) and you are asked about the temperature, texture etc as part of the assignment then it is a legitimate expense because you could not complete the assignment without consuming.
Mind you in saying that you cannot assess customer service first hand unless you buy something in a supermarket so the answer is still a bit vague sorry. The tax office did tell me re-imbursements are payment in kind and wouldn’t elaborate any further.

bessica

adoresabargain wrote: »

If I went to a supermarket and had to buy certain items to a value of £5 and was then reimbursed the £5 and I kept the goods is this not classed as income?
Sorry to be a pain but I am doing my tax return online and dont want to put down as income when they are classed as expenses.

It's a tricky area. I've decided to not put the spend through as expenses if I would have bought the things anyway (eg supermarket delivery items), but claim them as expenses if it's something I wouldn't have bought or paid more than I usually would. The fast food ones I would expect to put down as expenses as the tasting is part of the job.

I'm sure one of the old hands on here will have a definative answer, and the tax office will be able to give official advice. A quick call should put your mind at ease.

thumper1970

mharzuk wrote: »

I'm sure kellyshay will be able to explain it better but if you keep the purchases then it is payment in kind and is counted towards your pay (that means its taxable) unless you give it to charity then it is not taxable.
If you have to consume the product as part of the assignment (burger, pizza, beer etc) and you are asked about the temperature, texture etc as part of the assignment then it is a legitimate expense because you could not complete the assignment without consuming.
Mind you in saying that you cannot assess customer service first hand unless you buy something in a supermarket so the answer is still a bit vague sorry. The tax office did tell me re-imbursements are payment in kind and wouldn’t elaborate any further.

There are two trains of thought on this.

If you have to buy £10.00 worth of shopping to fulfil the task, in order that you get paid, then you could put it down as a legitimate business expense. Some people work out their tax in this way, and I have not heard of anyone being prosecuted for false declarations. However, if Mr. Taxman decided to analyse your accounts, be prepared to justify it.

The second school of thought is that because you are benefitting from the items, then they are simply income, and therefore you cannot claim them as an expense - As a result, your tax bill is higher, but you can be confident that if they check your accounts, they will have no issue.

This can be used for many examples, including fast food, as it could be said that you are benefitting, by not having to buy lunch yourself, but I'll leave it to you to decide!

In my own case, I put down everything I have to purchase/eat etc. as a legitimate business expense, as without buying it/eating it etc. I could not do the job. I am happy that I will be able to justify it in case. However, this is certainly not advice, and I would suggest that anyone that is really worried should seek the advice of HMRC or an Accounts expert.

adoresabargain

I have been waiting to speak to the tax office for 10 minutes!! I will let everyone know what they say when I do get to speak to someone!!

owlet

thumper1970 wrote: »

There are two trains of thought on this.

If you have to buy £10.00 worth of shopping to fulfil the task, in order that you get paid, then you could put it down as a legitimate business expense. Some people work out their tax in this way, and I have not heard of anyone being prosecuted for false declarations. However, if Mr. Taxman decided to analyse your accounts, be prepared to justify it.

The second school of thought is that because you are benefitting from the items, then they are simply income, and therefore you cannot claim them as an expense - As a result, your tax bill is higher, but you can be confident that if they check your accounts, they will have no issue.

This can be used for many examples, including fast food, as it could be said that you are benefitting, by not having to buy lunch yourself, but I'll leave it to you to decide!

In my own case, I put down everything I have to purchase/eat etc. as a legitimate business expense, as without buying it/eating it etc. I could not do the job. I am happy that I will be able to justify it in case. However, this is certainly not advice, and I would suggest that anyone that is really worried should seek the advice of HMRC or an Accounts expert.

I also put down everything I have to buy as a business expense because the job cannot be done without the purchase. Again, this is not advice, merely my take on the matter! as far as the fast food goes, I would argue that it is not a benefit to me to be eating a lot of fat which may clog my arteries . Mind you, the fast foods we do (underground sandwiches being the exception) I wouldn't normally go to, I only go when I am paid to lol.

adoresabargain

I have just spoken to a lady in the tax office and she said reimbursement is counted as income as the mystery shopping company has paid me the money back for the goods so it is an income.

owlet

blindman wrote: »

Did anyone else see these?

I only saw the one in Tewkesbury, but my areas are not that wide. I have just changed them to cover the major cities but I think I will get fed up trawling through all the jobs for the sake of the odd hotel etc. I don't pick up much with RE anyway because of the fees and the silly questionnaires. I currently have Birmingham covered but I only see station jobs , they must do more than that there. Might be time for a phone call.....
What are the european ones??? Do you know Blindman??

owlet

adoresabargain wrote: »

I have just spoken to a lady in the tax office and she said reimbursement is counted as income as the mystery shopping company has paid me the money back for the goods so it is an income.

I put the reimbursement down as income, along with the fee but I also claim it as an expense because it is part of the job. I think it is a bit of a grey area but you need to be prepared to justify your decision incase it is challenged.

vicz123

owlet wrote: »

I put the reimbursement down as income, along with the fee but I also claim it as an expense because it is part of the job. I think it is a bit of a grey area but you need to be prepared to justify your decision incase it is challenged.

this is how i do it as well. any re-imb for fast food/drinks/casino i eat there and then i claim as an expense as i only bought it for a job. whilst it means i don't need to buy dinner, lunch etc... i would normally eat at home for much cheaper so do not see it as a benefit.

anything else i buy such as clothes or food shopping i do not claim for and pay tax on as i see that as a benefit.