Self Assessment - Website & Parking Expenses???

[kellycomputerservices]

Hi All,

Could somebody please clarify for me if the cost of website hosting is an allowable expense on my Self Assessment Tax Return.

If so, would it be classed as 'General Admin Expenses', or 'Advertising, Promotion and Entertainment'?

Also, can 'Pay and Display' parking be claimed as a motoring expense?

Many thanks in advance.

Keith

[Jeewhizz]

Yes to both if they are solely used for business purposes. As to where to put them, I don't know - I leave that to my accountant!

[alex redmond]

Hi Keith,

Assuming that you are self-employed, then yes. The test is whether the cost was incurred "wholly and exclusively" for your business.
The classification is not important - you should always classify costs in a way that makes sense to your business.
Pay and Display parking can be claimed, again assuming that it's a genuine business cost. As with mileage, I would suggest keeping a spreadsheet for your expenses so that you can a) monitor and b) show if necessary where you went and why and how much you put in the meter.

Good luck with it,

Alex

[kellycomputerservices]

Thanks Jeewhizz and Alex,

Yes I'm Self Employed.

Website is purely business, and Pay and Display parking is all for business as well. Any parking expenses not related to business are not kept.

I'm still not sure whether the website is an admin expense or promotion/advertising expense. Would it make much difference if I put it in either column?

Will the taxman need to see where the Pay and Display tickets were bought. ie. what client, supplier, date, reason for visit etc?

I have been terrible at keeping milage records. I have had to go through all my invoices, PO's to see what dates I visited what clients and/or suppliers, and then find out the milage to and from, from the likes of Google Maps etc. I am only doing a return for Feb-April 07, so I shouldn't loose out on much by doing it this way (I hope).

If I claimed 40p per mile, can I still claim my pay and display tickets?

Thanks

[alex redmond]

It doesn't matter where you put the website expense. Main thing is that you can back up the numbers if necessary.
40p per mile is for the cost of the car (depreciation, insurance, fuel, etc.). Parking costs are completely separate and can be claimed in addition.
The taxman does not need to see where the tickets were bought etc. but it makes it a hell of a lot easier to be able to provide this sort of information if asked. And it's so much neater.
As parking and mileage inevitably occur on the same journeys, just add a column to your mileage record for parking costs (or any other costs that you regularly incur when on the road).

[kellycomputerservices]

Alex that's brilliant, and answers all of my questions! (for now at least) Thank you so much.

Right, HMRC online, here I come...

Originally Posted by alex redmond

It doesn't matter where you put the website expense. Main thing is that you can back up the numbers if necessary.
40p per mile is for the cost of the car (depreciation, insurance, fuel, etc.). Parking costs are completely separate and can be claimed in addition.
The taxman does not need to see where the tickets were bought etc. but it makes it a hell of a lot easier to be able to provide this sort of information if asked. And it's so much neater.
As parking and mileage inevitably occur on the same journeys, just add a column to your mileage record for parking costs (or any other costs that you regularly incur when on the road).