Hi
My client is an employee of a national building company and frequently spends long hours on different sites.
I am seeking guidance on two points and must say I find EIM05231 a little ambiguous.
First Scenario is that he stays overnight (hotel, evening meal + brekkie) and is then on site for 10/11 hours. Is he entitled to claim for a midday meal as an expense?
The employer meets the hotel costs directly.
Scenario Two. Leaves home at 7.00am & gets home at 7.00pm (ish). The employer pays for no meals. Is the employee entitled to claim a deduction?
I would say that very accurate records are kept.
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Benchmark rates
The main thing to remember is that the expenses must be incurred wholly, necessarily and exclusively in the performance of the employees duties and are obliged to be incurred. (S336 ITEPA 2003)
As long as the receipts are retained to show the actual expenditure then there should be no problem.
The benchmark scale rates are those that HMRC will accept without receipts as long as they are at or below the amounts stated,
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/eimanual/EIM05231.htm
The danger arises if the employee is given an amount for expenses that actually exceed what they incur and so a profit situation arises and HMRC will then treat the payment as a round sum allowance and tax and NI it within the provisions of S62 ITEPA 2003