per diems (PD's)

[soundo26]

hi;

 

Anybody out there with their financial head on who can enlighten me on the vagaries of PD's i.e. how much per day whether receipts are needed and how you deal with the tax office about them?

 

Our company's accountant doesn't seem to know much about them and the local tax office aren't very helpful either? We want to work a fair system but really having a problem getting info.

 

this is for a UK based company using own employees and freelancers in conference & event work. :D

 

 

Mod - Spelling corrected in topic title

[MikeR]

How much per day depends on all sorts of things - where, how long etc etc.

 

Do you need receipts also depends, if freelance your invoice is a receipt, the receipt you get for the beer is yours, but if you're an employee then your company will probably want the receipts for the beer.

 

The tax office now is a different kettle of fish and recent changes to the way they view things means that neither of the above statements is particularly useful. If you receive pds rather than payment according to quotation and purchase order then you may be deemed an employee which may or may not be the case. Bear in mind that pds and expenses (to a freelancer) are not the same thing at all. You should talk to your accountant about what constitutes tax exempt expenses if you are a freelancer though I gather from your post that you are not yourself. (EDIT and I see from your profile that you are not) I would suggest that as an employer talking to freelancers you should be asking them what the cost is for them to do any given job for you and the cost that they quote / estimate covers everything that they require.

 

If you search the blue room there are several threads relating to PDS.

 

I personally would say from a freelance point of view that pds are representative of an outmoded means of doing business. Having said that there are plenty of companies still doing it at some risk to themselves although as ever there seem to be ways and means of avoiding the issue.