The list below highlights the benefits you receive for a weekly fee of £25 (only payable when you actually work). With Nopalaver Umbrella Ltd you will:
- be fully compliant with HMRC on taxation of contractors.
- have no IR35, VAT, Business bank account or tax issues.
- be covered by Public Liability cover - up to £5,000,000.
- be covered by Employers Liability cover - up to £10,000,000.
- find it safer, easier and faster to set up than a Limited Company service.
- have no set up or termination fees and no minimum terms. We deduct a flat monthly or weekly management fee with no %age charges.
- have access to a text messaging service for notification of payments in your account.
- get paid via BACS, CHAPS or International payment order.
- have access to a highly trained team to deliver excellent levels of customer service.
- be able to sign up in minutes by phone or online.
- be able to claim tax relief on legitimate business expenses incurred.
- have access to a comprehensive service tailored to meet your changing needs.
- have all payroll and end of year PAYE returns completed.
- have less hassle - we complete all administration on your behalf.
What are business expenses?
A business expense is a cost you have incurred wholly in order to perform the duties of your employment. HMRC tax law is very strict in the definition of business expenses that can be claimed. We must comply with the law when accepting and processing them. To ensure all your claims are valid, we aim to check and verify expenses according to HMRC tax rulings. It is important to remember that claiming for expenses that you have not incurred would be viewed by the Inland Revenue as tax avoidance.
For further information from HMRC regarding expenses please visit this site.
Nopalaver Umbrella’s Expense policy
Nopalaver Umbrella Limited allows contractors to claim two types of business expenses:
1) Billable expenses: Billable expenses are those expenses incurred on behalf of the client that your agency/client has agreed to reimburse. These will need to be submitted to us in a detailed manner and Nopalaver will raise an invoice for the amount. The agency/client will usually verify these expenses with the appropriate sources and remit the amount to Nopalaver. Once received, these will be reimbursed to the contractor tax free.
2) Non-billable expenses: You incur non-billable expenses while you are performing the duties of your assignment – e.g. business-related telephone calls. This kind of expense can only be claimed in accordance with HMRC tax rulings.
To claim any outgoings as an expense you must be able to prove that it is wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred in carrying out the duties of the employment. Basically, if you have not spent it or cannot prove that you have spent it, you cannot claim it!
You must obtain a receipt for any and every expense that you claim. If you claim an expense, and you cannot prove that you have incurred the cost, an Inland Revenue investigation would result in you having to pay the underpaid tax; if the Inland Revenue considered that you were trying to avoid paying tax by falsifying expense claims you could also be fined.
However, we will check all expense claims to ensure that only expenses allowable, which are fully supported by receipts, are reimbursed.
Claimable expenses: Please see below information for suggested non-billable expenses that would be acceptable to HM Revenue and Customs, provided the are incurred wholly, exclusively and necessarily in the performance of your duties.
Expenses MUST be submitted, with supporting receipts, to Nopalaver by Wednesday Midday of EVERY week. The amount of expenses you claim is deducted from your gross income, which reduces the taxable amount your salary is based upon. As a result, you benefit from a reduction in the amount of tax and national insurance you pay. Your expenses are NOT paid in addition to your income.
Download our Guidelines for Expenses Claims
Travel
You can claim the cost of travel to and from your temporary place of work. Mileage rates are 40p per mile for the first 10,000 miles in any tax year and then 25p per mile thereafter. This allowance is to cover fuel and running costs of the vehicle.
You can also claim for parking, toll and congestion charges but you cannot claim for parking fines or speeding fines. Parking costs, Rail, Bus and Air travel to your temporary place of work can be claimed, but receipts are required. A mileage allowance can also be claimed for travel by motorcycle and bicycle at rates of 24p per mile and 20p per mile, respectively.
Food, drink and accommodation
The cost of hotel or bed and breakfast accommodation can be claimed as an expense.
There are no set allowances for accommodation, but the cost must be deemed to be 'reasonable'.
When you are residing in temporary accommodation, a food and drink allowance of up to £20.00 per day worked can be claimed.
Clothing and Tools
Tools and the cost of protective clothing that is worn to protect your everyday clothes can be claimed as an expense.
Training
Training courses must be wholly and totally relevant to the performance of your duties under your existing contract. Only certain types of training are tax deductible within the umbrella company option. For training to qualify as tax deductible it has to be undertaken as necessary for you to complete in order to continue your work for the company. If the training is undertaken to progress your career or improve your skills then this would not qualify as it is considered to be a personal benefit.
Subscriptions
The Inland Revenue will permit you to claim, as an expense, the cost of fees and subscriptions paid to appropriate professional bodies or learned societies.
Rented Accommodation
Where you rent accommodation close to your temporary place of work, then the cost (including gas, electricity, council tax, but excluding water rates) can be reclaimed provided that you maintain and continue payment for a main residence elsewhere in the UK, to which you return each weekend. A copy of the rental agreement and receipts for the payment of the rent must accompany the claim. Where you do not return to your main residence at weekends, then you can only claim 5/7 of the cost of the rental accommodation each week.
Friends or Family
Where you are staying with friends or family, you may claim £25 per night as a friends and family allowance. You will need to provide us with the name, address and telephone number of the place where you are staying and the relevant dates. The person you are staying with must also provide a receipt to support the claim.
Stationery, Postage, Consumables and Books
Where these are used wholly in the performance of your duties then they are allowable.
Telephone
The cost of home and mobile business telephone calls (where it is possible to separately identify these as business calls) are allowable and can be claimed. The telephone bill, with the business calls suitably identified, must be attached to the expense claim form. Calls to home cannot be considered as business calls no matter for what purpose they were made.
PIE
Personal Incidental Expenses of £5 per day are only allowable if staying away from home, this is to cover various expenses such as laundry, personal telephone calls and newspapers etc.
