Expense Policy and How to Claim

Expense Policy

Our generous expense policy is within the guidelines of the UK legislation and gives you access to tax deductions for a range of expenses that may not be available to you if you were not registered with us.

Recruitment Agencies have restrictions placed on them in this area due to the “Agency Regulations Legislation”.

How to Claim your expenses once you have registered with us:

Familiarise yourself with our Expense Policy about which expenses are covered
The expense must be wholly and exclusively incurred for business purposes in order to be accepted.
Keep the original receipts of expenses you want to claim (except where receipts are not required, for example for mileage)
Your name should appear on the receipt where applicable
We will email you an expense claim form, which you will need to fill in and email or fax to us
All expenses incurred for a specified period should be submitted the same time as your timesheets. These will then be included on our system and added the next time you are paid.

What can I Claim?

Travel
Subsistence
Clothing
Computers
Training Courses and Books
Professional Body Membership Fees
Journals and Magazines
Postage, Stationery and Equipment
Telecommunications
Eye Tests
Business Trips
Relocation Expenses
Donations to Charities
Rent
Utilities

Travel

Tube/Train/Bus Tickets
These can be claimed if they are solely for the purpose of work.
Cabs
Cabs can be claimed infrequently if used before 6am or after 9pm, and must be for business purposes only.
Vehicles (Cars and Motor Cycles)

You must be the owner of the car or motor cycle.
A log book must be kept.
Only business related miles can be claimed.
Mileage claim rate for cars:

40p per mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25p per mile thereafter.

Mileage claim rate for motor cycles: 24p per mile.

Bicycle

You must be the owner of the bicycle.
A log book must be kept
Only business related miles can be claimed.
Mileage claim rate: 20p per mile.

Car Rental

The cost of car rental and fuel can be claimed.
Car rental should be for business use only.
For any incidental personal use of the car, that portion of the fuel cannot be claimed.

Subsistence

Lunch can be claimed if you are working through the day, and working away from the trading address.

Breakfast and dinner can be claimed within reason: i.e. if you start work at the later hours of 9:30-10am, it would not be considered reasonable to claim breakfast. For dinner, we would use a guideline of working to 7pm or later for it to be considered a reasonable claim

Clothing

Protective and specialised clothing can be claimed so long as you are required to purchase and wear the items in order to do your job. These can include: waterproofs, high visibility clothing, overalls, work boots, hard hats, etc.
Costs associated with cleaning and maintaining the items can also be claimed.

Computers

Computer Hardware

In order to claim you would need to have bought the computer subsequent to becoming our employee.
Only one computer can be claimed and the claim cannot exceed £1500.00.
The computer must be purchased for business purposes, where personal use can only be incidental.

Computer Software

Claims would have to be within reason – they will be looked at case by case.

Training Courses & Books

These have to be wholly required by your current employment to maintain your current professional status i.e. Cannot be for courses which further your current qualification.
You cannot claim for personal developmental training.
Any enduring benefit must be incidental.

Professional Body Membership Fees

These have to be wholly required by your current employment in order to maintain your current professional status i.e. they cannot be for courses which further your current qualification.
They must be listed on the section 201 list. You can search for the term 'section 201' on this pdf file.

Journals and Magazines

Must be wholly required by your current employment with no private benefit.

Postage, Stationery & Equipment

Must be wholly required by your current employment with no private benefit.
Must be less than £1000 per year.

Telecommunications

Telephone

The line rental can only be claimed if all calls are business related.

Mobile Phones

Only business calls can be claimed.
As an Umbrella employee with two mobile phones, one for personal use and one purely for business, you could claim the monthly tariff of the business phone and the cost of those business calls.
If you purchased the business phone after becoming our employee, you could claim the cost of that phone.

Eye Tests

To claim for eye tests you must use a computer screen as part of your employment.
Eye tests can be claimed once a year.

Business Trips

Accommodation

In order to claim for business trips you will need to have been required to work and stay away from your usual base, and will have travelled over 2hrs to your temporary work place.
The cost of accommodation may be claimed for the employee’s use alone and must be a purely business related requirement.

Meals

While on the business trip all meals can be claimed:

Breakfast can be claimed if you have stayed overnight for business or if you have embarked on your business trip before 9.30am.
As long as you are working through the day you can claim lunch.
Dinner can be claimed for the nights that you have been required to stay over. If you wish to claim dinner for your last day (i.e. if you were not away that night), you will need to have worked after 7pm.

Incidental Overnight Expenses

Expenses that occur in conjunction with a business trip such as having your trousers pressed at the hotel can be claimed.
Incidental claims are limited to £5 per night within the UK and £10 per night internationally.
Incidental expenses are in addition to the accommodation and subsistence costs of a business trip.

Travel

Purely business related plane/train/bus/boat tickets can be claimed.
Any business travel during the trip can be claimed (e.g. taxis to and from meetings), however, any travel for personal reasons (sightseeing, shopping, visiting friends/family, etc.) cannot be claimed.

Relocation Expenses

In order for a relocation expense to be considered the following conditions must be met:

You will be required to upload your CV to 1st Contact’s free Job Assistance Service before arriving in the UK to help you find a contract.
1st Contact Umbrella is your first employer in the UK.
You are primarily moving to the UK for work purposes.
You can claim 6 weeks of temporary accommodation, shipping costs & air travel costs.
Up to pounds £8,000 of relocation costs can be claimed.

Air Travel

You can claim the cost of your airfare to the UK as part of your Relocation cost.
If you fly from your home country via another country en route to the UK, you can still claim the full cost of the plane tickets (within reason i.e. you spent 2 weeks in another country prior to coming to the UK)
Only the cost of the plane ticket of the employee can be claimed i.e. family member’s plane tickets cannot be claimed.

Shipping

The cost of shipping belongings to the UK can be claimed in conjunction with Relocation Expense claims.

Temporary Accommodation

You can claim up to 6 weeks temporary accommodation when claimed in conjunction with Relocation Expenses.
If you move into permanent accommodation before the 6 weeks is up, you cannot claim the full 6 weeks i.e.: you can only claim the length of time in the temporary accommodation.
You cannot claim temporary accommodation if you:

find permanent accommodation upon arriving in the UK,
are not incurring any accommodation costs i.e.: if you are staying with friends or family rent free.

Donations to Charities

Charity Donations can be claimed so long as they:

are not subject to any conditions of repayment.
do not benefit any person other than the charity as a result of making the donation.

The donation must be made to a ‘charity’ as defined by case law or a registered charity in England and Wales.
You can use this Charity commission website to confirm if a charity is registered in England and Wales.

Rent

Rent is not an expense that our employees can claim.
The only form of rent that can be claimed is in conjunction with the Relocation Expenses (see Relocation Expenses for details).

Utilities

Utilities are not an expense that our employees can claim.