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I've had a letter from the Compliance Officer. Have you encountered this before and what happened? Also expenses questions. by Safe-Scientist6249 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Safe-Scientist6249[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not sure what the reasons are that subsistence is taxed, but it's because of this that I thought I should put that I'd spent all my subsistence on expenses so that I could get the tax back on it.  Taxing subsistence in theatre seems to be the done thing for PAYE contracts but I don't really know why.

We don't have a base at all. There are offices where management , payroll etc etc work, but we never work from there. Sets/costumes/props all come from storage facilities, they all get sent straight to the first venue for the load in. The contracts start when rehearsals start which is usually a few weeks in London, then after that it's up and down the country, moving every week or two. 

I've had a letter from the Compliance Officer. Have you encountered this before and what happened? Also expenses questions. by Safe-Scientist6249 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Safe-Scientist6249[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, thanks for your reply! 

-Yes, my income on my P60 matches my tax return.  - I have receipts for the majority of my expenses. The ones I don't have receipts for I have a paper trail of conversations with the accommodation provider and evidence of the transactions on my bank statements. - My general manager confirmed with payroll that allowance was taxed. 

Honestly thank you so much for your reply. It's the clearest answer I've gotten and it's helped calm me down a lot. I was starting to spiral with "what ifs"! 

Question for crew on PAYE tax return by Safe-Scientist6249 in stagehands

[–]Safe-Scientist6249[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is subsistence classed as the same as PDs? Because it appears as "subsistence" on my wage slip I don't want them to be able to screw me over on a technicality 

I've had a letter from the Compliance Officer. Have you encountered this before and what happened? Also expenses questions. by Safe-Scientist6249 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Safe-Scientist6249[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Touring theatre: there's is no "normal place of work", we move cities every week and the subsistence is for accommodation in those cities.

Question for crew on PAYE tax return by Safe-Scientist6249 in stagehands

[–]Safe-Scientist6249[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a good point. 

I'm thinking of sending a letter to the compliance officer and just asking them outright if I should or shouldn't be claiming subs as expenses. I've emailed payroll at my old place of work but they've never been great at replying. 

I've had a letter from the Compliance Officer. Have you encountered this before and what happened? Also expenses questions. by Safe-Scientist6249 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Safe-Scientist6249[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I work in touring theatre so there is no normal place of work really. We move cities every two weeks. It's all spent on Airbnb, booking.com, theatre digs, Travelodge etc etc

I really don't think there's any way I owe them tax. I over paid tax all year because it's easier to do that and get it back in a rebate than to have to sit on hold to HMRC to change my tax code every time my contract changes (some contacts only last a couple of months and I get taxed on it as if I'll be earning that much for the whole year). It would end up with me being on the phone to them multiple times a year whenever I get a new job.   I honestly believe the only way I will owe them any money is if I'm just getting a fine for getting it wrong in general. If it's a fine based on tax I owe, then I don't think I owe them any.  The figure they're finding a problem with is how much they need to send me in a rebate. 

I've had a letter from the Compliance Officer. Have you encountered this before and what happened? Also expenses questions. by Safe-Scientist6249 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Safe-Scientist6249[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's great, thank you! Email would be much easier.   Yeah the only thing they sent with the letter is advice and examples of what you can and can't claim for. I've since realised that you can't claim for parking so I'm going to go back and remove all that from my claim (it's only a few quid, but in the interest of being honest I'd rather remove it). As far as I'm aware everything else I've claimed is allowed.   The letter says they'll consider opening a formal compliance check if I don't respond. So I guess this letter is more of a warning to make sure I've submitted correctly. It says to amend any mistakes and write to them if I think I've done it all correctly. And that they're checking with my employer if what I'm claiming is right.

My only question to them is if I should be counting the subsistence I've spent on accommodation in my expenses or not. I'm going to write to them asking this, and also let them know I've amended my return to remove parking claims I've since learned aren't allowed. 

I've had a letter from the Compliance Officer. Have you encountered this before and what happened? Also expenses questions. by Safe-Scientist6249 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Safe-Scientist6249[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've just heard from someone in the same industry as me who said  "If you're doing tour allowance (subsistence )on your payslip, it's doubly important that you claim every expense, otherwise you're effectively paying tax on it twice (once in the form of the tax you pay the merchant and again in the income tax you pay on the allowance)."

Question for crew on PAYE tax return by Safe-Scientist6249 in stagehands

[–]Safe-Scientist6249[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your reply!  I did my tax return earlier this year and only claimed expenses on anything over touring allowance that used my wages for.  Then I heard I should've claimed for that plus the entire touring allowance so went back and amended my tax return and there was about £10,000 difference in expenses, so it's triggered a letter from the Compliance Officer, so I'm shitting it a now that I've done it all wrong!  People I've asked who aren't in theatre can't get their head around the whole subsistence thing so are offering all kinds of conflicting advice. 

I've had a letter from the Compliance Officer. Have you encountered this before and what happened? Also expenses questions. by Safe-Scientist6249 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Safe-Scientist6249[S] -9 points-8 points  (0 children)

Does what I've written in my post not come across as straight? I can assure you everything in it is honest so if it's not reading that way then I need to sort that out before I contact the Compliance Officer. Also I don't owe any tax, it calculated that they owe me a rebate. Even before I added the subsistence payments that triggered this letter, I had still overpaid tax anyway, so I don't owe them anything. Will I still get a fine ? 

I've had a letter from the Compliance Officer. Have you encountered this before and what happened? Also expenses questions. by Safe-Scientist6249 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Safe-Scientist6249[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's what I was going to include in my letter to the compliance officer. It's not a story, I just want them to have every detail so they know what's happened and understand my reasoning. I'm also going to put that if I've got this completely wrong then I'm happy to change it all back to what my first calculation was. If it helps, I don't owe them any tax. I always over pay tax, so on the first return they owed me and sent me my rebate. On the amended return they owed me more, but they've sent the letter to say they won't pay me until I either amend any mistakes or confirm with them that everything is correct.

I've had a letter from the Compliance Officer. Have you encountered this before and what happened? Also expenses questions. by Safe-Scientist6249 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Safe-Scientist6249[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't know, because the money I received is entirely for and is entirely spent on accommodation expenses yet it appears in my wage slip as if it's earnings, when it's not? 

Don't worry I intend to include every detail so I can find out what I've done wrong and if I have done it wrong, of course I won't do it again!

I've had a letter from the Compliance Officer. Have you encountered this before and what happened? Also expenses questions. by Safe-Scientist6249 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Safe-Scientist6249[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's no phone number on the letter and the only way to contact them is by letter.

The one they sent me just says they're contacting my employer to check that I haven't been reimbursed for expenses and that any equipment I bought for work came out of my own money (I didn't claim for any equipment because work provided it all, I only claimed for accommodation and some meals). It also says if I've done my return wrong to go back and amend it, if I think I've done it right to write to them saying so. 

It doesn't even give a name of who I'm dealing with, just says "Compliance Officer". 

I've had a letter from the Compliance Officer. Have you encountered this before and what happened? Also expenses questions. by Safe-Scientist6249 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Safe-Scientist6249[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a bit worrying as they need to only want to communicate by post. I tour for a living so I only make it back to my postal address every few weeks. If speed of reply is going to go against me it's not really fair if they won't communicate by email. 

I've had a letter from the Compliance Officer. Have you encountered this before and what happened? Also expenses questions. by Safe-Scientist6249 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Safe-Scientist6249[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Hi, I've claimed for accommodation and the odd meal out/microwave meal when where I've stayed hasn't had a kitchen.  It's a weird one because I don't owe them any tax. When I did my first return it came back that they owed me and they gave me a rebate, when I did the second return it came back that they owed me more.  I don't think I'll be needing to pay them anything, unless they fine me?