Spring 2011 Newsletter Content Leading article... Anything up his sleeve? General tax... Relaxed association File under 'e' Research costs? Give early A tax on houses Pension changes Holiday entitlement EISy money VAT... 20:20 vision Horses for courses? Do it yourself That's entertainment All in the contract? Where am I? Law items... What's in a title? The privileged few Called to account Don't mince words

Research costs? Claiming the cost of a holiday as an expense is one of those well-tried ideas that the taxman will argue about. The principle is clear: if you have to go on a business trip and stay on for the weekend, you can claim the cost of the business trip. If you go on holiday and arrange to do some business while you are there, you probably can't claim any of it. Telling the difference is sometimes difficult. A journalist interviewed the man who wrote 'A Year in Provence' and thought 'I could do that'. So he moored a boat in the South of France and lived on it for a year, busily writing. He claimed half of the cost of everything for a year – he reckoned that allowed for the private element, and 50% was a fair reflection of the research for his book. The tax tribunal would have none of it. The trouble is that expenses have to be 'wholly and exclusively' for the business. As soon as you claim 50% you are admitting that they aren't. Perhaps the experience will give him material for a new book. If you want to be sure what expenses can validly be claimed against your profits, we can help.