www.iva.co.uk

If I become a councillorI receive an allowance.This is expenses to cover the costs incurred and not regarded as wages,will I have to pay it to IVA.

Hi Brendan I'm not sure of the answer to this one but will keep it bumped up for an experts opinion. x

Hi Brendan,

If this is to cover costs you have already incurred then you should be ok.

One of the professionals will advise tomorrow.

Hi

My wife is standing in local elections, and if elected will receive an allowance as described by the OP.

In Kallis3's reply, you say '... to cover costs already incurred ...'

The allowance is paid monthly in arrears, so one can certainly say it is to cover expenses incurred in the previous month. However, it is a fixed amount and not directly related to the actual expenses. Having said that, the allowance will hardly cover the costs and my wife will be lucky to break even.

Do I need to tell my IP, and if so, do I give them a break down of the costs that will be incurred (subscription to various groups, admin costs, campaigning costs, travel costs etc etc) and show them there will be no surplus? Or do I just tell them that there is an allowance to cover expenses and that is it?

Thanks

If your wife is in an IVA it should be disclosed to her IP just to keep them in the loop and I'm sure they'll tell you how to deal with it x

Thanks for the reply - just to clarify though, I am in an IVA not my wife. Not sure if this would make a difference to the advice?

You should probably disclose it as it is income in all but name. But after contributing toward the bills all the disposable income is hers. I have a number of councillors among my friends and their costs are nowhere near their allowance...so don't worry too much about the costs of the job. xx