Summer 2009 Newsletter Content Pot and kettle No more stealth Pensions hit A place in the sun Ready or not... Nice motor Making allowances Good times, bad times Tax-free checkup Three square meals Funny question Dividend rules OK? Too good to be true? Pay my friend Early EIS Mind the halfpennies Just the ticket Flat rate changes Foreign Service This year, next year Partial exemption Penalties Compliance checks Under their eye Howzat? Know your rights Discipline Don't be mean Redundancy Two sorts of absence Warranties

Three square meals If you are travelling on your employer's business, the taxman recognises that you may get hungry - and even if you would have had to eat something anyway, the cost of any meals is tax-deductible (within reason). One problem with this is keeping receipts for sandwiches snatched while running for a train - employers may prefer to give a round sum allowance for such things, but up to now the taxman has wanted evidence. Now HM Revenue & Customs have announced that round sum allowances will be accepted, provided the employer tells them before starting to use the new system. As usual, the rules are complicated - you can pay £5 if someone is out of the office for 5 hours and has to take a meal, £10 if it's 10 hours and two meals, and £15 if someone has to work late and take an evening meal, as long as it's not their usual working pattern. That's hardly generous and employees may prefer to carry on claiming for exactly what they spend, but it may represent a welcome simplification. If you think this could help you, we will be happy to help you set it up with the tax office.