Tax-relief on expenses

In order for you to gain tax-relief on expenses they must be deemed allowable business expenses and have been incurred wholly, exclusively and necessarily in the performance of your duties. Allowable expenses for site-based workers are set by legislation; no umbrella company can provide tax-relief on expenses which others can't. The rules are the same for everybody! BBuffalo provides a detailed list of potentially allowable expenses on the 'What can be claimed?' page.

Annual expense claims

BBuffalo does not process and pay out tax-relief on a weekly basis; you will receive tax-relief by way of an annual rebate. There are several advantages to this.

Correspondence is reduced as you will hold the receipts yourself and not be required to copy or send them to BBuffalo.
There is no possibility of underpaying tax during the year that would have to be repaid later. Because you will be claiming overpaid tax back, rather than holding on to tax which might otherwise have been paid on expenses, there is no chance of HMRC later landing you with an unexpected tax bill, plus interest.
You will have full control over your claim and can choose whether to follow our step by step guide and expert advice to process your claim yourself or to engage the services of our specialist chartered accountants at highly discounted prices.
Lower income earners also benefit from BBuffalo's expense claims process because they can claim more tax relief without breaching minimum wage. This is a significant advantage to many contractors.

Tracking your expenses

You should record your expenses as often as possible online by logging in to your BBuffalo account. This will make claiming a rebate on your expenses easier at the end of the year and ensure you maximise your tax-relief.

Supporting your claims

We strongly recommend that you retain your expense receipts. In some cases HMRC may require receipts to substantiate particular expenses and it is your responsibility to be able to produce them if requested. BBuffalo have outlined best practice for substantiating each claim within our expenses guidelines and you can email questions for clarification any time you require.