Invoicing for Reimbursements

[timm_m]

Hi,

in 2017/2018 I had some expenses that were related to a company in Malta but addresses privately to me.To reimburse these expenses they need an invoice from me addressed to the company. Additionally, since I moved to the UK in 2017 and didn't have an income in 2017/2018 I did not declare a tax statement in the UK. How do I handle this with my new tax statement then?
I assume the invoice addressed to the company will have to be declared as "income", and the invoices I paid for as "expense" so it nets to zero? But can I do that even though they were from 2017/2018?

Thanks!

[jerome.lane]

Were you connected to the company, UK resident in 2017/18 and do you normally prepare a tax return? If you didn't have a taxable income, and not make an overall profit, it hardly seems worrying about even if you failed to report something you maybe should have.

[timm_m]

- I am connected to that company (one of the shareholders)
- I was UK resident in 2017/18 but didn't prepare a tax return since there was no taxable income
- For 2019 I will however have to prepare a tax return, which will have to include this invoice I guess

I think it basically boils down to: am I able to declare expenses from 2017/18 in my tax return of 2019 due to the fact that I didn't declare a tax return in those years?

[jerome.lane]

As long as the expenses are wholly and exclusively allowable, you can still claim them in the next tax year (almost like pre-trading expense rules or a shareholder loan in credit). If there was prior year income and you were delaying a claim to maximise personal allowances, then this would be more contentious. You could just ignore the expense relating to the prior year as it seems there is no point in adding extra work for basic reimbursed expenses.