Self Assessment/ Expenses

monkey_shoulder

I am a Vehicle Delivery Driver, and, as I believe is usual in this line of work, although I work for only one company, I am self-employed. I am doing my self-assessment tax return for the first time and would appreciate a little guidance.
The company pay me for each delivery, per mile, and pay my fuel, and traveling expenses between drop off and pick up. I also incur other expenses, phone, office costs, hotels, meals etc.which I expect to claim against tax.

The company tell me that I can claim a "large daily allowance" for meals. I have read the HMRC notes and it seems to say that I cannot claim for "subsistence", only for unusual expenses when away from home. Can anyone tell me where on HMRC's or any other website there are details of this and other allowances? How much can I claim for "meals" and do I need to have receipts for every one?


I have read that there are "Flat Rates" for some expenses, like subsistence and use of home as office, and that below a certain threshold, HMRC will not quibble. Where can I find a guide to "No-quibble" expenses?
Cheers.

monkey_shoulder

I am disappointed that that no-one seems to be able to help me with this question.

One of the theories that I am considering is that my employer is being economical with the truth and that In fact I cannot claim "a large daily allowance" for for food etc.

Some sources say that food and drink on journeys as part of the normal pattern of work is not claimable. Some say that their accountants put a flat-rate £10 a day through the books without question.

Similarly with use of home as office. Though the flat rate is only £10 a month. If I do as yet another advisor tells me, to divide the household bills ( Council Tax, Gas, Electricity, Water and Broadband ) by the number of rooms in the house, I get a much larger figure.

Hmmm...

sheramber

accodring to https://www.gov.uk/expenses-if-youre-self-employed/overview

you can for meals for overnight business trips.

you can claim a proprtion of household bills of you have a room that you use solely as an office.

details of how to apportion the bills are also given in the above link.

Pennywise

Why not ask your employer for a link or proof of their claim you can make a "large daily allowance"?

The general rule for meals, as self employed, is that you can only claim for anything outside your usual daily routine.

Re use of home, you're missing the extra dimension of time actually spent in the room you claim to use for business. Presumably, if you're on the road a lot, you'll only be working from home for a short amount of time, so the "total divided by number of rooms" calculation also has to be adjusted for time spent working compared with time spent doing other things. For most people working maybe the occasional hour at home, the HMRC scale rates (like the £10 you quote) are adequate.