Government to clamp down on construction workers' expenses

Date: 8th January 2010

Sole traders in the building and construction industry are set to notice changes in the way the government deals with travel expense claims from construction workers.

Over the last few years workers have been able to claim expenses going back six years.

This is now set to change and those who are still entitled to claim may lose out, it has been suggested.

At the end of this month the claim period is set to be reduced to five years, and further reduced to four years at the end of April.

Jan Post of tax law specialist Rift, said: "With almost no warning at all, the government has decided to cut two years off the entitlement period – a step that could save the Revenue millions of pounds but which will cause hardship to many."

The expert claimed that thousands of construction workers have never made a claim because the idea of a "long drawn out and complicated battle with bureaucracy is just too daunting".

Posted by Thomas Fletcher