The Atlantic Expense policy

The Atlantic Expense policy is based on our HMRC issued dispensation, which is available on request and is explained in detail below.
The dispensation:

offers the highest take home earnings allowable to contractors
is 100% legal
is completely independent of IR35
offers convenience to contractors
The Atlantic Expenses Policy is split into expenses that need receipts to support the claim and expenses that do not (allowances). Please read the following in conjunction with our dispensation.
Travel Allowance and Expenses
 Travel expenses can be claimed either as allowances and/or reimbursed expenses.

Mileage Allowance

Receipts are not required for mileage claims, though records of travel must be kept. Mileage can generally be claimed for all business related travel where the employee is necessarily obliged to travel away from their normal place of work in the performance of their duties of employment.

The following mileage rates can be claimed:
Vehicle Type First 10,000 miles per annum 10,001+ miles per annum
Cycle 20 p 20 p
Motorbike 24 p 24 p
Car 40 p 25 p

Rail, Bus, Air Travel and Parking Charges

Rail, bus and air travel costs, congestion and parking charges are claimable where receipts are provided.

Hire Cars

Please refer to our consultant.
Subsistence Allowance
 Split into three categories, the amount claimable is affected by travel and accommodation factors.

Day subsistence

Subsistence claimable when opting to travel daily to work place.

Subsistence can be claimed on the following basis:
A: If you leave home before 7am
Breakfast £ 5.50
B: If you work for over 5 hours a day
Lunch £ 7
C: If you work over 10 hours a day
Dinner £ 16.50
D: In addition, a long journey break
(2 X £ 3) £ 6
  £ 35

To qualify for the long journey break, you need to travel in excess of 2 hours.

Overnight subsistence

When staying away from home, the following options are available.

A: Where room is on a 'bed and breakfast' basis
£ 23.50
B: Room only basis
£ 29
C: Overnight with friends
£ 25

Refer to the dispensation. Records and details of friends or family are required to support the claim.

In addition to the subsistence claims above, accommodation costs incurred whilst in the performance of duties are also claimable (i.e. over and above the subsistence claims). Refer below for accommodation expenses.

Note: Subsistence costs cannot be claimed where other family members are present.
Accommodation
 Receipts are required for short-term and long-term accommodation expenses.

Incidentals allowance

In addition to the accommodation and subsistence claims, you are also granted a further £ 5 per night (£ 10 for overseas) to cover personal incidental expenses. No receipts are required.

Long term

When claiming accommodation rental costs, your rental agreement must meet HMRC Dual Purpose rules. These state that the property concerned must only be let for the working week and not for non working days (i.e. weekends). If the rental receipt clearly states it is only for the days you have worked then it will be allowable.

Note: Accommodation costs cannot be claimed where other family members are present.
Business entertainment
 Pay particular attention to the examples given in it as this provides a good indication as to what the Revenue views as legitimate business entertainment.

To substantiate any entertainment claims, the following details will be required:
who is being entertained
the purpose of entertainment
place of entertainment
the receipt
Telephones and Internet
 Identified and itemised business calls from home, a personal mobile, or public call box by a contractor are fully claimable when in respect of business and is covered under the HMRC Dispensation.

Internet provision at the employees home is claimable under the dispensation where the employer is the subscriber.

No private calls or line rental costs are claimable. Please note that a copy of your telephone bill with the business calls clearly identified is required.
Professional Subscriptions
 For a list of the allowable Professional Subscriptions please click the following link: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/list3/list3.pdf
Eyesight Tests
 Refer to our consultant.
Office consumables and stationery
 Reimbursement of reasonable amounts (normally a maximum of £ 35 per month) for office stationery, postage expenses and consumables used wholly, and exclusively in the performance of duties.

Receipts are required.
Training and Tuition
 Training and tuition costs can be claimed where it is "work related" (see below for a definition of "work related").

To ensure any claim is allowable we require:
a receipt for the full amount for the training and tuition
your current job description
the name of the training course/tuition
a description of the course / tuition
In addition to claiming the cost of the training and tuition any "related costs" (see below for a definition) can also be claimed.

The definition of "Work-related training" is training for your current employment or a "related employment" where the training course or other activity is designed to impart, instill, improve or reinforce any knowledge, skills, or personal qualities which are, or are likely to prove, useful to you as an employee when performing your duties, or will qualify or better qualify you to undertake the employment, or to participate in charitable or voluntary activities arising through your employment.

The term includes a wide-range of practical and theoretical skills, as long as those skills are relevant to your employment. Where leadership team skills are appropriate to you, participation in activities such as Outward Bound, Raleigh International, or Prince's Trust will qualify.

Examples for clarification are:
1: Taking a Microsoft Word course to improve word processing skills would be allowed if your work required you to produce any kind of documentation or correspondence. The majority of IT related employment would obviously qualify for this kind of training whilst perhaps a long distance lorry driver would struggle to prove the course was "work related".
2: Taking a Microsoft Project Manager course would be allowed for project managers, team leader, supervisors and anyone in a proven leadership or management capacity whilst perhaps a call centre first line support engineer would again struggle to prove that it was "work related".

The definition of 'Related employment' is training which is undertaken with an employed or prospective employment in view where:
any office or employment held with your employer or which is to be held with your employer or a connected person
any such office or employment to which you have, or can realistically expect to have a serious opportunity of being appointed
The intention here is to include all genuine training, in a range of competencies, which you need to advance your career, or to achieve a career move. Training in leisure type activities, unless exceptionally an activity, which has a genuine connection with your work duties, is not allowable.

The definition of "Related costs" is any expenditure related to the training you are claiming for. Examples would be travel, accommodation and subsistence costs when staying away from home to undertake the course. "Related costs" should be claimed under the appropriate sections within the expense claim and not within the training category (e.g. Subsistence should be claimed within the Subsistence section).
Computer Hardware and Software
 Computer hardware (e.g. laptop, PC, printer, scanner) and software costs can be claimed where it can be proved that it is essential to your role. A maximum value of £ 500 per annum can be claimed for computer hardware and software expenses.

To ensure any claim is allowable we require:
You to enter in your expenses claim the lowest of either £ 500 or the full value amount of the hardware and/or software. For Example: If the value is £ 1500 you must enter £ 500 in your claim, alternatively if the value is £ 300 then you must enter £ 300) ". When entering the claim online you should still enter the total VAT amount of the expense even if the purchase was greater than £ 500.
A receipt for the full amount.