Tax - expenses claims

sweetbutternut

Hi everyone,
Wonder if you can help me...am struggling to make sense of the tax form. I am partially self-employed.

I have a couple of questions regarding expense:


1. Can you claim for National Insurance?
2. If I use the car partly for my business, can I claim for car tax, car insurance and breakdown cover?
3. How do you prove mileage if you have no receipts?
4. I also work part-time as an agency worker: can I claim expenses in transport?
5. I ran a small online business last year, and did a stock-take in April 2009. Do you deduct the leftover unsold stock from your total turnover for the year?

Can any help pleeese? Thanks!!

mrkbrrws

1. No.
2. Yes, but only the business proportion. You can also claim capital allowances on the car itself (also reduced by the private use).
3. By recording the mileage? If you haven't then it can only be a reasonable estimate. If you are working out your motor expenses using the 40 pence per mile method then you can't deduct the items under question 2 as well.
4. You can't deduct normal commuting, if you travel to different locations as part of your work then you may be able to.
5. Deduct the stock (at lower of cost or realisable value) from your cost of sales/purchases.

sweetbutternut

Thanks very much for the reply mrkbrrws. It's very helpful. What's "at lower of cost or realisable value" mean?

The only problem I have with No 4 is that on the online tax form, there is only one space to fill in - "Costs of goods bought for re-sale or goods used". They don't give you separate boxes for opening stocks, purchases, closing stocks.....Do I just take the amount I spent on stock for the year, minus the unsold stock and put that figure in the box?

Hope I'm making sense. Thanks

mrkbrrws

Your stock should be valued at cost price, unless you will have to sell it for less than cost in which case you use the expected selling price (realisable value).

The box for cost of goods etc. would be calculated as opening stock plus purchases minus closing stock.