A Guide to Expenses
What, how and when you may be able to submit expenses.
As a contractor you may incur expenses that your agency has agreed to reimburse. These expenses are often referred to as billable or chargeable expenses.
Chargeable Expenses Can Be Claimed Providing:
- We have confirmation that your agency is reimbursing you for the expenses.
- They are allowable (non-commuter expenses incurred wholly, exclusively and necessarily for the purposes of your assignment).
There’s an online claim on our portal with supporting VAT receipts.
Further guidance on how to add chargeable expenses to your timesheets can be found here.
How to Claim Through Us
In order for us to process your claim we require you to sign our expenses declaration form to ensure you understand how your expenses will be processed through us
This can be signed via your OnePortal.
Chargeable expense claims should be submitted through your online portal. We can only process claims which are supported with VAT receipts clearly showing what was purchased, the date it was purchased and a VAT breakdown. We also require a short description of the reason for the expense to ensure it is “wholly, exclusively and necessarily for the purposes of your assignment”.
Important Note
Even if you have already been through this process with your recruitment agency, we will still need you to submit your claim with receipts to allow us to invoice your agency correctly.
Business Mileage Claims
If you are claiming business mileage as part of your chargeable expenses, you must provide full details of your vehicle including:
- make
- model
- fuel type
- engine size
- registration number
This can be done on your online portal or via email to your payroll team. Every time you submit a mileage claim, you must provide VAT receipts for the fuel used.
The same information must be provided for any new or additional cars you use.
Why Do We Need VAT Receipts
We require these receipts to make sure the VAT position is applied correctly on the invoice we raise to your agency for your chargeable expenses. The full value of the expenses can only be processed and paid if we have a supporting receipt showing the full VAT breakdown. Without these receipts you may be at risk of only receiving part of the submitted value.
Claiming tax relief on expenses through HMRC
To receive tax relief on any allowable expenses that are not being reimbursed by your agency, you may be able to claim them through HMRC. You must, however, retain all receipts as evidence of these expenses.
The expenses you may be able to claim are:
- Accommodation
- Subsistence (food & drink)
- Travel costs including parking, tolls etc.
- Professional fees and subscriptions
- Computer hardware
- Incidental expenses
Further details can be found on the link below:
Claim tax relief for your job expenses: Overview – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
There are two ways in which you can make a claim through HMRC:
Option 1: P87
This is a form available from HMRC, which is free of charge and can be used for claims that are less than an annual amount £2500.
You can submit a P87 yourself at any time by post.
We have provided you with a helpful step by step guide on how to submit a P87, which can be found on your portal under the resources section. We have also included a template to store your expenses information if you wish, for when you are ready to make a claim.
Option 2: Self-Assessment Tax Return
You can submit your claim in this way for any amount but if your claim is over £2500 you can only use this method.
As a Danbro employee you can benefit from a discounted Self-Assessment Tax Return with our team of qualified accountants, if you’d like to know more, please speak to a member your payroll team.
Please note – If an investigation is undertaken by HMRC and you are unable to show receipts or any other proof of your expenses, then you could be required to pay back any tax owed. You could even be charged with tax evasion, so it’s worth retaining all your receipts in order to verify you are paying the correct amount of tax or risk the consequences of claiming unprovable expenses.
