Q. I work through my own personal service company. When I go abroad on business my customer normally pays for the cost of hotels and meals. Can I still claim the personal incidental expenses (PIE) from my own company?

A. Yes you can still claim the PIE, which is £10 per night for overseas trips, when you are abroad on business. The PIE is supposed to cover incidental expenses such as phone calls, newspapers and laundry, not the cost of hotel or meals.

Q. All my employees are entitled to a bonus for exceeding performance targets in 2013, including those who left before the end of the year. How should I report the bonus due to the former employees to HMRC, and do I have to deduct tax?

A. Under RTI you need to set the 'payment after leaving' indicator on the full payment submission (FPS) that includes the bonus payment to your former employee. Also on that FPS use the same payroll ID for that person as applied while they were an employee, and show the date the employee actually left. The year to date figures on the FPS should include the bonus payment as well as the previous pay and deductions for the former employee. When paying the bonus to a former employee you need to use the PAYE code 'OT' on a month 1 basis to deduct tax and NICs.

Q. I've got into a muddle over childcare vouchers. When I started the voucher scheme in 2012 all my employees were taxed at 20%, so they all received vouchers worth £55 per week. Now some are paying tax at 40%, but they are still all getting the full amount of tax-free vouchers. What should I do?

A. As an employer you are required to review all your employees' relevant earnings at the beginning of the tax year, and adjust the amount of tax free childcare vouchers for any employees who are expected to fall into the higher tax brackets. If at the time of that review it was not foreseen that some employees would be paying tax at 40% at some point later in the year, you are not required to adjust the amount of tax free childcare vouchers. The level of tax relief for the vouchers is set at the beginning of the tax year, or when the employee takes up employment with you in that year.

If your review of relevant earnings in April 2013 was incorrect, you may have given vouchers in excess of the tax free amount to some employees. In those cases the excess amounts should be reported on the P11D forms for those employees.

Q. I have four rental properties, and I have recently remortgaged one property to provide funds for my son's education. Can I set the professional fees and charges connected with this re-mortgage against my letting income?

A. Normally fees connected with obtaining finance for a business (including a lettings business) are allowable against the profits of that business, but in this case you didn't use the additional funds for the purposes of the business, but extracted them for your own use. Therefore the fees and charges connected with the new mortgage can't be set against your letting income.

Q. My company is considering purchasing a VW Caravelle for me to use as my family vehicle. It is sold by the commercial van centre rather than the VW car dealer. Does that mean the company can claim back the VAT on it?

A. VAT can only be reclaimed on commercial vehicles such as; lorries, vans, buses, or cars used for daily rental to customers or as demonstration vehicles in the motor industry. Irrespective of who sells the vehicle, if it is designed to carry people rather than goods it is a car not a van, unless it's a bus designed to carry 12 or more people. To qualify as a van it must have a payload of at least 1000Kg.

Q. I act as a DJ for parties and other events. For themed parties (e.g. Halloween, 1970s) I wear clothes to suit the occasion. Can I claim the cost of those clothes as an expense in my self-employed accounts?

A. The Taxman will not allow a deduction for the cost of ordinary clothes which are required 'for warmth and decency'. However, where the item is needed for safety purposes, like a hard-hat on a building site, the cost is allowable. The same applies for the cost of a costume worn to identify the person in a role, such as a barrister's legal wig and gown.

If your clothes amount to a costume for entertaining, then the cost is allowable. If you also wear those clothes for warmth and decency then the cost is not allowable. Try asking yourself: 'would I wear this when I am not working as a DJ'. If the answer is 'yes', the cost is not allowable.

Q. In September 2013 I started working through my own company but I haven't drawn a salary yet. Can I award myself tax free childcare vouchers as an employee of my company? I was previously on a salary of £50,000 with my former employer. Would that affect the amount of childcare vouchers I can receive tax free in this tax year?

A. As an employee of your company you can receive childcare vouchers. The other conditions of a childcare voucher scheme must also be met, For example, all other employees of your company should be offered childcare vouchers on the same terms. Your previous salary is not relevant to the amount of tax free childcare vouchers you can receive from your current employer. If your expected salary for this tax year (don't include dividends or bonuses you may receive), will be less than the basic rate band - pro rata over the rest of the year, you can receive the maximum of £55 of tax free childcare vouchers per week.