Claim of business expenses

jamichi1

Hello there.
To keep being updated for my profession, I tend to attend a scientific conference every couple of years. My employer won't cover the expenses, but they are ok with me being away to attend without taking time off. Until last year HMRC had no issues to accept those expenses (not a huge amount by the way) and reduce my tax bill accordingly. Last year (February 2022) however, they declined to do so. I did call them once I received the decision, and I was encouraged to write a letter explaining, why I thought this decision was incorrect. I did but never got a response on my letter. To be fair, I enquired at the time via a phone call, and the response was that it was under consideration.
Anyway, time went by and last week, I received a letter from the HMRC, apologising for the long delay, asking me to provide them with a letter from my employer, which would explain why they didn't pay for my expenses (in November 2021). 
Is that reasonable? Isn't there an obligation that the HMRC needs to respond within a reasonable amount of time at the requests of taxpayers, and so responding after 14 months is unreasonable to request a letter from someone else to explain why a specific decision was made? The issue is that the leadership team at work has changed, and it would mean that they would have to do quite a bit of digging to write a response that would make sense and sounds reasonable to the HMRC.
Any thoughts/advice will be welcome.

PS Proofs of conference attendance / expenses etc have been submitted to the HMRC in support of the claim.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Time scale aside I'm surprised they've given you that much encouragement.

Seems highly unlikely that you will be eligible for tax relief.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim32525

DullGreyGuy

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/689227/PU2152__Consultation_on_self-funded_training_web.pdf

According to the above, self funded CPD by employees isnt tax deductible but there was a consultation and then https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/taxation-of-self-funded-work-related-training confirms the outcome was not to change the rules.

[Deleted User]

I am not sure that you should be pursuing this and hope that you have not opened a can of worms. 

In order for an employee to claim relief for an expense it must be incurred wholly, exclusively and NECESSARILY  in the performance of the duties of an employee. The last criteria has a harsh interpretation - in essence EVERY employee would be REQUIRED to incur such an expense. 

The employer, should they pay for the expense, could normally claim full relief. 

In my opinion your claim fails. You have chosen to attend the course and, while satisfying the ‘wholly and  exclusively’ elements, fails the ‘necessarily’ test. HMRC has not ‘accepted’ previous claims - simply processed without scrutiny, until now. 

You have escalated your claim and received the correct decision. Hopefully HMRC won’t open earlier years - but they certainly could.

Read under the heading:

What types of expenses can I get tax relief for

https://www.litrg.org.uk/tax-guides/employment/employment-benefits-and-expenses/what-if-i-incur-expenses-relation-my-job

Jeremy535897

If an employer won't pay for training, it is because it does not believe the training is necessary. It is often the case that there is a duality of purpose. The training may help with the current job, but it is also carried out to keep the employee's marketability at a higher level. The old option of sacrificing salary in return for the employer paying for the training is likely to fall foul of the benefit rules on optional remuneration arrangements.