Readers' forum : Admin headache

Following on from the article ‘Half-baked’ in Taxation (16 November 2017) I have a situation where the total income of a sole director/shareholder client is now paid through IR35 from a public body. This means all her fees are now being taxed under PAYE.

This raises the problem that the company has expenses such as accountancy fees and the cost of filing with the Registrar of Companies. These can only be paid from the director’s pocket out of taxed income.

My query is whether a director can claim these as expenses against her PAYE income because she cannot obtain work unless the company continues to operate and therefore the payments are wholly exclusively and necessarily for her employment.

I hope Taxation readers can help with what is I believe a simple administrative issue.

Query 19 093– Worker.

Reply by David Kirk

The director cannot claim expenses against...