There are lots of advantages to being registered as an umbrella employee including entitlement to sick pay, maternity or paternity leave and holiday pay. One of the advantages we are most often asked about is the opportunity to claim allowable expenses. Depending on your circumstances ensuring you claim what you are entitled to can make a significant difference to your take home pay.
What you can and can’t legitimately claim can be a minefield which is why it helps to work with a reputable company who can advise you and ensure your expenses are always allowable.
There are a range of different types of expenses which you could be entitled to. They usually fall into the following categories:
- Travel expenses
- Accommodation and subsistence
- Tools and materials required to carry out your work
- Professional subscriptions and training or courses which are directly relevant to your work
More detail and clarification on each of the above can be found here.
We’re often asked about whether you can claim for clothing. Protective or specialist clothing which is required specifically for your work can be claimed for but other clothes which you wear for work can’t. So even if you only ever wear a suit and tie for work meetings these would not be allowable but a protective hi-vis jacket or hard hat for example would.
Computer equipment and phones are another area that causes confusion. If you purchase a computer and you can demonstrate it is used strictly for business purposes then this would qualify, if you also use it at home for unrelated purposes such as online shopping and your personal social media accounts then it wouldn’t be allowable.
If you are uncertain about a particular expense that you think you should be able to claim for then do get in touch and ask. We’ll be happy to offer advice.
