Greater Allowable Expenses Awareness Required for Self-Employed

2 mins

Business accountingOne of the UK’s leading tax experts has called for greater awareness of the areas of allowable expenses for the UK’s self-employed. David Redfern, director of DSR Tax Refunds, urged self-employed taxpayers to ensure that their knowledge of allowable expenses doesn’t lead them into conflict with HMRC by claiming for items that are not allowable or claiming for the whole expense of an item which also has private use.

As HMRC publicised their online course for self-employed expenses, Redfern urged HMRC and business support services to take steps to increase awareness of expense rules for self-employed workers, stating that “as self-employment and freelancing grows as an employment sector, those of us within the taxation industry are increasingly seeing cases of taxpayers who do not know how to correctly report their business expenditure to HMRC – leaving them at risk of not claiming their full allowable expenses, or more seriously, claiming an incorrect amount, risking HMRC enquiry and penalty as a result”. He noted that not only were the areas of business expenditure sometimes mistaken but also the proportion of expense that could be rightfully claimed. Redfern explained that expenses need to be “wholly and exclusively” for the purpose of making business profit and that any private use of the item in question would need to be accounted for when claiming by only claiming for the business use proportion.

Redfern stated that “although it is a natural response for someone entering self-employment to pay more attention to their revenue areas than how they are going to report their income to HMRC, ignorance of the law won’t be an acceptable excuse should HMRC decide to investigate”. He finished by stating that although HMRC and services which support self-employed workers needed to increase awareness of regulations, taxpayers themselves also needed to take responsibility for ensuring that they are aware of their tax responsibilities.

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About DSR Tax Refunds Ltd
DSR Tax Refunds Ltd are a firm of tax rebate specialists serving clients nationwide. DSR Tax Refunds are tax preparation experts who specialise in identifying potential allowable expenses for tax rebates for clients. Their specialist team can help employed and self-employed subcontractors with all relevant paperwork to ensure their claim is handled in an accurate and efficient manner.

For more about DSR Tax Refunds, visit https://tax-refunds.co.uk/

For media enquiries, please email info@tax-refunds.co.uk or call 0115 795 0232

DSR Tax Refunds Ltd
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