Reciepts for hotels?

boiledegg

Can I please ask your opinion? my accountant has said that I can claim for some overnight hotel stays when seeing my clients even though I didn;t keep receipts - I'm not sure about this.
I am a self employed marketing consultant and visit quite a few clients to get new business - the accountant told me about the 40p milage allowance with no reciepts which I checked on the government website with and am happy about, but I'm not clear about the hotel one, even though it would be good for me - any advice?

(I put this on another thread when I should have started this new one instead - I'm new to all this!!!!)

Elaine_Wilson

The best advice I can give is to consider the self assessment tax return that you complete every year.

You are allowed to claim for expenses incurred "wholly and exclusively" for the business. There is nothing about having documentary evidence.

When you submit the return you sign to say that the return is "correct and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief". Having included a deduction for the hotel expenses are you happy to sign that certificate? If so, then fair enough.

Of course, if your return is looked into then the more evidence you have about the expenditure the better. But the lack of a document does not preclude a claim.

System

I would also suggest keeping receipts from now on. Although not needed, HMRC can ask for them and it may get awkward if you can't provide them.

Red_Cat

Yes, I would agree, claim for the current year, but keep reciepts/invoices in future.

Did you pay any by credit card? if so the bill from the card company may at least demonstrate you made the expenditure, if you were asked to provide evidence.

Pennywise

You can only claim for expenses you have incurred.

If you have really spent money on hotels, then you can claim for it. If you don't have receipts, then you should be able to support it in other ways, i.e. credit card statements, bank statements/cheque stubs, email booking confirmations, diary, correspondence with customers/suppliers etc confirming your visit. etc

If instead, you are sleeping in the car, a tent, caravan, or a friends sofa, then you can't claim as you havn't incurred a cost. If the accountant is suggesting you can claim for this kind of thing, then he is worryingly wrong and you need a new accountant.

Zazen999

Hi
I would suggest sitting down with the accountant for a coffee and having a discussion about what is allowable. Not saving every receipt is negligent to your business and you need to get up to speed on all allowable expenses. I don't think the accountant is suggesting that you claim for expenses NOT incurred but if you didn't know about hotels, then what else are you missing?

dejongj

Pennywise wrote: »

If instead, you are sleeping in the car, a tent, caravan, or a friends sofa, then you can't claim as you havn't incurred a cost. If the accountant is suggesting you can claim for this kind of thing, then he is worryingly wrong and you need a new accountant.

But strangely enough civil servants can choose that option and claim upto £25/night for staying with a friend! Wonder how it works on their return....