Reciepts from builders and HMRC

[Lucky_Me]

Which documents do I need to get from builders to offset the amount I paid against rental income and/or capital gains tax?
I had a builder who just written me on a paper 'received £XXX for materials', 'received £XXX for labour'. I suspect this is not good enough.

[TaxationPete]

His name address and contact details. Vat number if applicable. Regards Peter

[theartfullodger]

I always get an invoice, all info listed above etc for all work my (very small one-man-band) builder does without even asking. Any builder not supplying such info may not be "trustworthy" in all senses of the word (tax-regulation-adherence, quality-of-work.....).

Further, paying by bank transfer or cheque would indicate to HMRC this is a "real" expense not fictitious...

[Telometer]

His name address and contact details. Vat number if applicable. Regards Peter

There is nothing in legislation that says that you require these items on an invoice in order to be able to claim an expense.

It is however helpful, when creating an audit trail, to have these details on receipts representing a significant level of expenditure.

[mind the gap]

The date, and the address of the property where the work was carried out would also be a good idea.

[Bel]

There is nothing in legislation that says that you require these items on an invoice in order to be able to claim an expense.

It is however helpful, when creating an audit trail, to have these details on receipts representing a significant level of expenditure.

Interesting perspective.

The business providing the services is bound by law to provide trading name of business, plus proprietors' name or company name and registration no., and business address (including registered address if a limited company) on all correspondence and invoices. VAT number, if they have one, must also be displayed.

The invoice should be dated and also numbered.

Without that information, they are not tendering a legitimate invoice.

The revenue may be able to question and finally reject the invoice if it does not conform to standard? For that reason I would press for a proper invoice.

[Telometer]

The business providing the services is bound by law to provide...

Irrelevant though. OP is referring to receipts, not invoices. And a business is under no obligation to provide an invoice.


And HMRC have absolutely no right whatsoever to deny you a deduction in respect of expenditure incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of your trade just because the supplier did not issue a proper invoice.

Now, of course, it's certainly going to be easier to prove it to HMRC if you do have an invoice, but that is a completely different point. You wil find that many antiques dealers never have invoices for their purchases nor issue them for their sales.