Tax Return - Self assessment

[stringy]

Hi
I am going to be renovating a new property and will be staying away from home to do this.
Whilst away can I claim back food and meals as a business expense and if yes in which box on the self assessment form will they be included in?

[jpkeates]

You can't claim for your own food/meals.

[Claymore]

Haha - I read the OP's name as Stingy!!

JPK - I recently did a refurb at one of my properities - now 200 miles away. I stayed in a hotel the first night (bought a blow up airbed and roughed it for the next couple of weeks) and then on the last night, I checked into a hotel (around mid-night) on the way home as I was exhausted.

Will I be able to offset both of the hotel bills?

Many thanks
Claymore

[jpkeates]

Hotel bills are allowable expenses - provided the trip was wholly business, i.e. you wouldn't have needed a hotel other than because of the refurb.

You can't claim for food because it fails the wholly and exclusively test - you'd have eaten whether you were working or not.

[Claymore]

Thanks JPK.

[jpkeates]

Absolute pleasure.

[stringy]

Hi thank you all for your comments.

When I used to be employed if we were out of the office or way from home we could claim expenses back for meals and overnight accommodation which seems fair but does that mean that the company I worked for was not allowed to offset these costs against sales to reduce its profits and pay less tax?

[leaseholder64]

It's a few years since I claimed for subsidence, but my understanding was that, at the time, HMRC did allow for the cost of evening meals and breakfasts, to, say two star hotel standard, without even offsetting them by the cost of a DIY, home, meal.

Of course, landlording isn't a business for HMRC purposes, so rules may be different.

[tatemono]

Er subsidence or subsistence? Not sure the govt will let you claim for either

[jpkeates]

When I used to be employed if we were out of the office or way from home we could claim expenses back for meals and overnight accommodation which seems fair but does that mean that the company I worked for was not allowed to offset these costs against sales to reduce its profits and pay less tax?

The company would probably have agreed it's expenses policy with HMRC.

My last employer allowed specific expenses which they had agreed with HMRC were legitimate business expenses - as a blanket policy. From time to time the rules changed as HMRC policies changed. At the start that meant breakfast if travelling before 7:00 and an evening meal if travelling after 8PM

When I left, we could claim for any our own meals - but they were no longer tax deductible for the company, and, if dining with a customer, had to split the bill between their food (allowed) and ours (not). The rules also determined if VAT could be recovered. Any tip was in the not allowed column. The company took the hit, otherwise noone would have been prepared to travel.

Similarly, we agreed with HMRC a policy about business travel claims. As long as they were properly recorded, HMRC allowed the claims without checking.

[JamesHopeful]

You can't claim for food because it fails the wholly and exclusively test - you'd have eaten whether you were working or not.

Am I correct in thinking that where properties are held within a limited company, it is possible to claim for meals eaten when travelling on property-related business (within the stated HMRC maximums)?

[jpkeates]

The same rules apply - it would have to be justified as an expense incurred because of the business - and meals usually aren't because the same meal (broadly) would be eaten anyway.

Paying for staff food is usually a benefit in kind, which is taxed as income for the recipient.

[pebblepebble]

These are the HMRC Self Employment help pages:
https://assets.publishing.service.go...notes_2018.pdf

Page 6 - Cars, vans travel expenses allows meals on overnight business trips.

[jpkeates]

Most landlords aren't self-employed.

[pebblepebble]

Fair point. Although not a trade, taxable profit from rental properties generally follow the same rules.