Claiming gym membership from tax?

[JC94]

So I see some self employed traders claim (or attempt to claim) absolutely anything they can back from the tax man, I think I read somewhere on the forum someone knew some bloke who tried to do this with a new kitchen saying it was for business purposes, which is quite ridiculous... But thinking about it every website i've seen with the basic 'role outline' or 'requirements' of an electrician, they always say must be reasonably fit, so keeping fit is part of our job role more or less. Anyone know much about what you can and can't claim? Was just a thought

 

[Sparkysoldman]

If you think the taxman will pay for the gym u really are in cookoo land !!!!

 

[Geordie Spark]

So I see some self employed traders claim (or attempt to claim) absolutely anything they can back from the tax man, I think I read somewhere on the forum someone knew some bloke who tried to do this with a new kitchen saying it was for business purposes, which is quite ridiculous... But thinking about it every website i've seen with the basic 'role outline' or 'requirements' of an electrician, they always say must be reasonably fit, so keeping fit is part of our job role more or less. Anyone know much about what you can and can't claim? Was just a thought

We said it was the works canteen and it was during a VAT inspection.

We knew we wouldn't get away with that one, but we did have our claim for the new bedroom carpet accepted.

At the start of the VAT inspection, we owed a considerable sum in VAT, but by the end it was greatly reduced to a more manageable level, the VAT Inspector went on sick leave never to darken our door again and we never ever had another VAT inspection !!

Claim for anything and everything and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

As we Geordies say: "Shy bairns get nowt"!!

 

[JC94]

We said it was the works canteen and it was during a VAT inspection.

We knew we wouldn't get away with that one, but we did have our claim for the new bedroom carpet accepted.

At the start of the VAT inspection, we owed a considerable sum in VAT, but by the end it was greatly reduced to a more manageable level, the VAT Inspector went on sick leave never to darken our door again and we never ever had another VAT inspection !!

Claim for anything and everything and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

As we Geordies say: "Shy bairns get nowt"!!

Was worth a shot I guess :hurray:

 

[trev]

I agree with #2 but as Geordie said, shy bairns get nee ket. You have to be a bit careful what you put through, HMRC will let you get away with a bit but if you start taking the mick they'll come down on you like a sack of hammers and you really could do without being investigated by them. I've got mates who it's happened to and it's not nice.

 

[Geordie Spark]

If you think the taxman will pay for the gym u really are in cookoo land !!!!

If he declares it under "entertainment" as in entertaining clients he may well get away with it.

If he has a snack at the pub when he goes for his pint and gets a receipt for it, that can also be "entertainment" (of clients) or if the pub is not his local "sustenance" for himself while he was working away.

My accountant was an ex-inland revenue bloke who had turned from Gamekeeper to Poacher you may say, and I first met him in the 70's when "The Revenue" were chasing me for a couple of hundred quid that they said I owed them from playing part-time in a band.

By the time he had finished with them they had stuck a cheque for £1,200 in my sticky little hand.

I used that accountant for many years in the several businesses that I have had and we always came out on top in our tussles with The Revenue and Customs & Excise (as they were then)

Like I say: Shy bairns get nowt.

 

[Geordie Spark]

I agree with #2 but as Geordie said, shy bairns get nee ket. You have to be a bit careful what you put through, HMRC will let you get away with a bit but if you start taking the mick they'll come down on you like a sack of hammers and you really could do without being investigated by them. I've got mates who it's happened to and it's not nice.

Aye .. you really need to have somebody on your side who knows the ropes. Try to do it yourself and you'll end-up in the clarts.

This bloke who I had set his office up right next door to the local Tax Office ....

Poor bloke died of lung cancer recently. Never smoked in his life either.

 

[trev]

In the same way as we decry the 5WWs in our trade I wouldn't go to an accountant who wasn't properly qualified.

 

[Geordie Spark]

In the same way as we decry the 5WWs in our trade I wouldn't go to an accountant who wasn't properly qualified.

Aye, a mate of mine was a Pattern Maker in a foundry and the foundry closed so he retrained to be an Accountant.

His main client seemed to be a pub not far from where I live and he was never out of the place. It seemed the unit of currency he and the pub manager used to settle the accountancy fees was Pints, and this "accountant" drank copious amounts.

The pub isn't there any more ..... it went bust.

 

[trev]

There was a solicitor round here called Joe McCarron, he and his brother were both alcoholics. Joe used to drink the vast majority of the profits of his practice which was eventually closed down by the Law Society. Poor buggers no longer with us dead at 45.

 

[oldtimer]

Think you need to be sensible a lot of folk think they can get away with a lot but in fact the taxman has not caught up with them. But they are getting better with software that looks at the percentages of claims against profits then compare them to a similar business .

This was done years ago as a Chinese carry out was caught doing a one for you one for me because they claimed for all of the food containers and it was spotted by the taxman.

I submit my own accounts (not VAT registered) and yes i hear about clever accountants but at the end of the day you sign off and are responsible for the account.

 

[Thomas123]

I would try and claim it, if your too fat to get through an attic hatch then you can't do your job.

 

[Octopus]

Claim as what?

My accountant told me a long time back they look at averages for the business "type" and then anything that looks odd they would look at.

 

[Guest111]

As others have said,be careful it's all about what you think something is worth, you could argue you need to keep fit for your job but they could argue that a run around your local park doesn't cost anything.HMRC can be a nightmare,one of my ex's parents owned a shop and he got a visit one day,on a £1/4 million pound turnover he was missing a receipt for about £15,they spent 3 days going over everything with a fine tooth comb,he found the missing invoice it had fell down the back of the drawer where he kept his paperwork.To coin an old phrase "you are much better having them inside your tent peeing out, than outside peeing in"