PA Lorber v HMRC (No 3)

In PA Lorber v HMRC (No 3) (TC02169 – 22 August) a London borough councillor (L) received allowances from the council totalling £11 500 pa which were accepted as taxable. He claimed deductions of £2 006 in respect of the use of his home as an office £1 200 for expenditure on communications to his constituents plus deductions for expenditure on childminding and on various subscriptions and publications. HMRC agreed to allow a deduction of £334 in respect of the use of one room in L’s home as an office but rejected the remainder of the claim. L appealed. The First-tier Tribunal allowed the claim for expenditure on communications (see Decision TC00986) but rejected the remainder of L’s claims. Sir Stephen Oliver observed that ‘for tax purposes child care expenditure is not allowable as...