A&H

Travel expenses for attending a misconduct hearing?

Kes

I'll Decide ...
Probably a daft question, but I've got to attend one tonight in my capacity as the referee for a fixture back in March for which I had to submit a report.
Am I meant to be reimbursed my travel costs? :)
 
The Referee Store
In previous experience I have been reimbursed at the County Cup mileage rate c. 35p per mile
 
Yes, they should give you a claim form when you arrive and will pay you in cash before you leave.

I because such a veteran of these hearings that I cut my losses and crossed to the other side of the table ..!
 
Yes, they should give you a claim form when you arrive and will pay you in cash before you leave.

I because such a veteran of these hearings that I cut my losses and crossed to the other side of the table ..!

Okay thanks for the advice chaps. Just wanted to be sure. ;)
Rusty, that's exactly what happened mate. :)
 
And don't forget to both declare your 35p per mile on your self assessment, and claim the additional 10p per mile in tax rebate.

TBH put all your reffing through the books, the amount that can be claimed is almost unreal! My accountatn loves it.
 
And don't forget to both declare your 35p per mile on your self assessment, and claim the additional 10p per mile in tax rebate.

TBH put all your reffing through the books, the amount that can be claimed is almost unreal! My accountatn loves it.

Wouldn't that call into question the possibility of tax on your referees fee though?
 
Depends how much you get for your games? Down here, £34 a game income v mileage at £0.45 per mile (door to door), £5 per game laundry fee (£10 per game where a suit is required), off set the cost of boots, kit, sports drinks / powders, training kit, 30% of any gym / swimming memberships and sessions, mileage to and from monthly mastermind meetings, £18.00 per week during the season for "working from home 10-51Hrs per week" for phone, internet costs etc, RA-FA membership, annual CFA membership and Prmoiton Scheme deposits - Think i was just short of £2.2k loss this last season.

I am self employed and have openly declared that officiaiting is one ond the sources of income that I recieve. Scare the hell out of the The FA when you send them an invoice for your match fee as they have to raise a cheque to pay you!

So directly, yes it would raise a possability of paying tax on your ref fee, but you run at loss for every game you do, so you get either a break / relief or even rebate. At small scale, £300 in your pocket is £300 in your pocket. So may miss out on Self Assessment becuse they think they are in PAYE and so it doesn't apply.

Take off your pension contributuons, charitable donations etc.

Flip side though, FA state that officials are responsible for ensuring that they pay any tax due on any incomes - so that makes it a form of wmployment, yes? So who has busniness use on their car insurance for driving to and from games ..........(also tax deductable as an additional expense due to reffing activities.....)
 
I was told different by a specialist tax accountant. You can claim for shortage in mileage (i.e. 45p per mile minus what you actually got per mile), laundry, kit and boots, professional memberships, affiliation, travel to meetings, etc.

But you can't claim for training kit, gym membership, sports drinks, as they are all deemed to be optional extras and not essential for your "employment". To claim for use of the home as an office you would need to prove that you used your home equipment for at least 10 hours a week purely for refereeing administration, and no referee would ever be able to do that.

There are other potential pitfalls. Many employment contracts will forbid you from having other employment, and it would be impossible to argue that you had complied with that condition if you are registered as self employed for tax purposes. As HRW has said you would need to have car insurance that covers business use. I had a crash on the way back from a game a few years ago and the insurance com got a bit shirty when they found out I was refereeing a football game as they said that was employment. Was only when I proved that I had been away from home for 8 hours for the grand sum of less than £30 that they backed down as that couldn't be deemed employment as less than the minimum wage.
 
For some it will work, for others it will not.

My swim membership is paid for by the company, a Ltd company which provides all employess with paid for gym membership. It also provides all staff with all required sports drinks, unlimited amounts of SIS gels and powders. Laundry is calimed for as it is a Uniform (that is for work only as wher else would ou wear a ref's kit?!?! Harder to prove for suits and shirts as could be worn to events outside of work). As a Ltd these are tax deductable expenses.

But the boss is an absolute pain in the ar*e to work for, the grumpy fukker.

Problem is, I'm the Owner / Director and only employee! D'Oh!
 
Is the swim membership not a benefit in kind, and therefore taxable? Likewise drinks, gels and powders? The laundry for kit is probably OK, but an extra fiver for wearing a suit ...

I suspect that you have got away with it because there's not enough tax inspectors, so no one has looked at your tax return in detail, but will have been checked algorithmicly by a computer. If/when human eyes are cast over your tax return you may get a nasty letter from the tax man.

I'm no expert or accountant, and best of luck to you, but not risk I'd be happy to take.
 
Is the swim membership not a benefit in kind, and therefore taxable? Likewise drinks, gels and powders? The laundry for kit is probably OK, but an extra fiver for wearing a suit ...

I suspect that you have got away with it because there's not enough tax inspectors, so no one has looked at your tax return in detail, but will have been checked algorithmicly by a computer. If/when human eyes are cast over your tax return you may get a nasty letter from the tax man.

I'm no expert or accountant, and best of luck to you, but not risk I'd be happy to take.

Indeed, if you followed HRW's advice you may well have the tax man asking some very difficult questions.

For example, and and an additional one to what I listed before, claiming for dry cleaning. Why would a referee be able to claim tax deductible expenses for dry cleaning when no one else who has to go to work in a suit can?
 
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