Ask the Accountant

Our staff raise money for a chosen charity each year. A third party provides transport, hotels etc. for our volunteer employees to attend fundraising events. The company then reimburses the third party. Are these costs that we pay tax-deductible for us? #AskTheAccountant

01/02/2018

#AskTheAccountant

Accountancy Expertise – here to answer your questions to help you run a successful business.

We’ll be posting frequently asked questions and answers. Can’t find the answer to a question you’re looking for? Get in touch at contact@carringtonaccountancy.com one of our expert accountants will be happy to help. #AskTheAccountant

Q. Our staff raise money for a chosen charity each year. A third party provides transport, hotels etc. for our volunteer employees to attend fundraising events. The company then reimburses the third party. Are these costs that we pay tax-deductible for us? #AskTheAccountant

A. The position on tax-deductible expenses is as follows:

• If the expenses are necessary for the staff to complete the charitable event, they will be tax-deductible and should not need to be considered a taxable benefit.
• You should be careful not to allow the expenses to stray into personal time though. For instance, if they were running the Paris Marathon for your charity and you paid for a couple of nights stay that would be fine. If you paid for a week then HMRC would be wanting to tax it as a benefit provided for the period, that exceeded what was necessary for the event.

Submit your question to one of our experts via twitter @CarringtonAcc using the hashtag #AskTheAccountant