David Barry    Accountants and tax advisers       020 8252 7018/07877671423

Do all Revenue & Customs inspectors live on the real world?                           

Can the Human Rights Act be applicable in the stratisfied world of tax and tax legislation?

What about the law of equity and its application in the field of tax?

All airy, fairy questions, I know.

Recently, I read about a client who came to England as a builder, qualifed and all that!

However, without speaking a word of English, but determined to make England his home and to work hard, approached a colleague who spoke English, knew something about tax and offered to help him as follows:

Read the internet with him in order to collect names and addresses of prospective employers.

She would read the tax legislation and try and interpret.  Dangerous, I know.  However, he is young, knows nobody and is not fully aware of the tax consequences of trying to interpret tax legislation.

Help him type up simple sales flier letters for work.

The question I would ask is "Are the services of an interpreter tax deductible or not.

Certainly, for a British resident with English as a first language, certainlt these services may not b e applicable.

However, what about our Eastern European colleague?  Not so clear cut.

The legislation talks about wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade and I would argue that in this instance it is.

BIM37007 - Wholly & exclusively: overview

Apportionment and duality

When you consider the application of ICTA88/S74 (1)(a), it is important that you distinguish between cases where:

1. A definite part or proportion of an expense has been laid out or expended wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade, profession or vocation. That part or proportion should not be disallowed on the ground that the expense is not as a whole laid out or expended wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade, profession or vocation.
2. In the gentleman's mind at the time of his expenditure was business purposesonly so that in this instance BIM 37007 does apply and so the expense whould be admitted into the profit and loss account whatever the inspector may think.

 David Barry    Accountants and tax advisers       020 8252 7018/07877671423