Allowances for working abroad?

Self employed working abroad

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Hi all,

I hope all is going well for you this January.

I have only one remaining problem this tax season, so I guess that does make me lucky.

My client worked abroad for a week or two at a time, around 3 times over the course of the year. She has said that she has been told that she can claim all her costs (hotels etc) PLUS £50 per day.

I can't find anything like this for the self employed, but she is adament although this is the professionals equivalent of 'A mate down the pub told me', so I thought I would check here to see if I have missed an allowance or guideline somewhere.

Thank you for any help you may be able to provide.

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By Jdopus
28th Jan 2020 09:01

As far as I'm aware there's no strict rule for the self employed. They're supposed to claim actual costs.

What I expect is that your client has received advice about the international subsistence scale rates for employees.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...

These don't cover sole traders, but personally, I might be comfortable with arguing to HMRC that they could be used as a reasonable approximation of the costs a client would incur while travelling abroad if receipts can't be produced. It's a bit of a grey area so you'll have to use your own judgement.

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Replying to Jdopus:
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By User deleted
28th Jan 2020 10:42

Thank you for your help on this.
That was my thoughts, because I found it strange that a self employed person could get an unexplained allowance out of the goodness of the government's heart.

The only thing I was able to find was the scale rates, so it was only likely to be one or the other.

Thank you again. It is very much appreciated.

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