Umbrella Expenses - what can you claim?

General Expenses

If you are in receipt of reimbursed agency expenses there is a potential to claim tax relief for the following expense types, provided that they are incurred wholly, exclusively and necessarily in the performance of your employment duties:

• Uniforms and work clothing
• Tools
• Professional fees/ subscriptions
• Business telephone calls
• Computer hardware/ software
• Working from home allowance

However even if you aren't in receipt of reimbursed expenses you still may be able to claim these expenses directly from HMRC.

Detached duty or inter-site travel (also known as mobile working)

If you have a regular workplace, but you are sent by the same client to work temporarily at another location (known as detached duty travel or inter-site travel) then HMRC may allow you to claim a tax deduction in respect of travel and subsistence expenses incurred whilst travelling to that temporary workplace.

An easy way to look at this is that you will be allowed tax relief in the same way as a permanent employee on the site would, if he or she was sent to a temporary workplace. PayStream contractors can record details of any expenses they incur that are allowable in accordance with HMRC rules on our portal or phone app.

The type of expenses that you may be able to claim when travelling to a temporary worksite are:

• Mileage and associated costs (tolls, parking, etc.)
• Public transport (bus, train, taxi, air fares, etc.)
• Car hire and fuel costs
• Accommodation (hotels, B&Bs, rental properties and utilities, etc.)
• Meal expenses (evening meals, lunch, breakfast, etc.)

Please note that you can no longer claim for travelling to a regular workplace.