Autumn 2006 Newsletter Contents Into The Unknown Season Of Goodwill Farewell Andre Toon Done Doon Day Of Reckoning Artistic Licence Gizmos Again A Free Lunch Sweet As Nectar Security Concerns Going For A Spin The Cap Does Not Fit While It's Hot? Code Cracking Bad Connection Broken Trusts You Can't Take It With You Dividend Returns IR35 RIP? Spam Spam Spam Breaking Up Duty Calls Time Shift Moving Vans

Artistic Licence Employees can usually deduct expenses for tax if they are "necessarily incurred in the performance of the duties". That rules out a lot of costs that people might incur because they are employees - if something isn't incurred while doing the job, it isn't "in the performance". Things that only prepare you for the job, for example, are not generally allowed. It's a harder test than the rule for self-employed people, who only have to show that the expense is "wholly and exclusively for the purpose of the trade". As long as it's related to the trade and doesn't have some other purpose as well, it should be allowed. There are specific rules to cover some expenses where the general principle would be particularly unfair on an employee. For example, a theatrical performer is unlikely to get much work without an agent, and the agent will take a percentage of the performer's earnings. That would be deductible without question for a self-employed actor - but what you pay your agent isn't "in the performance". So there is a special rule to allow employed performers to deduct agents' fees. This rule was in the spotlight recently when the famous Richard & Judy claimed a deduction for their agents' fees from their earnings from Granada for presenting "This Morning". The Revenue said that the rule on agents' fees only applied to theatrical artists, and Richard & Judy were on the telly. The Commissioner decided that they were theatrical, and allowed their claim - he then gave a list of borderline examples which shows that the law could be an ass. For example, he thought that John Humphrys would qualify on Mastermind but not on Today; Jeremy Paxman would qualify on University Challenge but not on Newsnight. Quite a Challenge for a Mastermind to explain why that makes sense.