Expenses, Disbursements and Recharges
Discussion
Got a new job, I've always been PAYE, got made redundant and now I'm going to be a consultant something or other to a couple of companies, both are in Europe.
I'm not quite sure how to figure out a couple of things. I've done the basics of registering with HMRC as a sole trader and will sort out a business bank acc.
I've agreed a flat rate for time, but expenses will go on top because they'll be variable and the companies are fine for me to claim them back. EG in March I'll need to pay for flights and hotels to Germany, with a car hire. This I'm fine with, I'll just stick it on an invoice
The bit I'm interested in; I drive to the airport. It's about 120 miles round trip. Rather than try and claim a pence per mile I'd like to charge the client the cost of the fuel. I don't want to land either client with a massive expenses bill, just keep it reasonable. Say 15ppm roughly covers the fuel cost
If I do that, can I then claim back the difference between the cost and the HMRC Simplified mileage allowance at 45 ppm for first 10k and if I can, is there a software package in the world that could make sense of that, because it'll be fairly regular frequency, but different places, clients and amounts. It's the fuel/travel I'm most interested in
Ta
I'm not quite sure how to figure out a couple of things. I've done the basics of registering with HMRC as a sole trader and will sort out a business bank acc.
I've agreed a flat rate for time, but expenses will go on top because they'll be variable and the companies are fine for me to claim them back. EG in March I'll need to pay for flights and hotels to Germany, with a car hire. This I'm fine with, I'll just stick it on an invoice
The bit I'm interested in; I drive to the airport. It's about 120 miles round trip. Rather than try and claim a pence per mile I'd like to charge the client the cost of the fuel. I don't want to land either client with a massive expenses bill, just keep it reasonable. Say 15ppm roughly covers the fuel cost
If I do that, can I then claim back the difference between the cost and the HMRC Simplified mileage allowance at 45 ppm for first 10k and if I can, is there a software package in the world that could make sense of that, because it'll be fairly regular frequency, but different places, clients and amounts. It's the fuel/travel I'm most interested in
Ta
Edited by andy-xr on Thursday 3rd December 20:37
The software package is called an Accountant 
It may be worth registering for flat rate VAT if your main line of work is B2B. Though I note that your current clients are based in Europe so again an accountant would be able to explain the best course of action.
Also, I believe vehicle expenses are different for sole traders and directors of ltd. The .45p allowance is available but restricts what other things can be claimed.
It may be worth registering for flat rate VAT if your main line of work is B2B. Though I note that your current clients are based in Europe so again an accountant would be able to explain the best course of action.
Also, I believe vehicle expenses are different for sole traders and directors of ltd. The .45p allowance is available but restricts what other things can be claimed.
I think there are two things here. One is how tax efficiently you can run a car, the other is how much you can charge it out for.
My car was 'private car used for business' so a (reasonable) percentage of all its costs were allowable. I then charged mileage on top where feasible. Win/win.
And yes, find a numbers bloke to help you get set up right before you make a hash
My car was 'private car used for business' so a (reasonable) percentage of all its costs were allowable. I then charged mileage on top where feasible. Win/win.
And yes, find a numbers bloke to help you get set up right before you make a hash
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