I travel to London a lot on business, and this usually involves
standing in line for ages at the ticket machines at Heathrow T123 Tube
in the morning peak, while new arrivals get to grips with the system.

I've been thinking of getting myself an Oystercard with Pre Pay only,
then I can just go straight to the gates, touch in and recharge my
credit later in the day in central London when things are quieter.

I was wondering: if I buy a normal Tube ticket from the touchscreen
machines, I can demand a receipt which I submit as part of my travel
expenses claims; but if I recharge an Oystercard at one of these
machines, can I ask for a receipt to be printed showing the amount
added?
--
Paul Robertson )
Glasgow (remove zzz from above to reply)

In message , Paul Robertson
writes:

I travel to London a lot on business, and this usually involves
standing in line for ages at the ticket machines at Heathrow T123 Tube
in the morning peak, while new arrivals get to grips with the system.

I've been thinking of getting myself an Oystercard with Pre Pay only,
then I can just go straight to the gates, touch in and recharge my
credit later in the day in central London when things are quieter.

I was wondering: if I buy a normal Tube ticket from the touchscreen
machines, I can demand a receipt which I submit as part of my travel
expenses claims; but if I recharge an Oystercard at one of these
machines, can I ask for a receipt to be printed showing the amount
added?

And is it a VAT receipt for those who might need one?

BG question.

--
Jim Crowther "It's MY computer" (tm SMG)

Always learning.

Jim Crowther wrote:
Paul Robertson writes:

if I recharge an Oystercard at one of these machines, can I ask
for a receipt to be printed showing the amount added?

And is it a VAT receipt for those who might need one?

No, because public transport fares are zero-rated anyway.
--
Paul Robertson )
Glasgow (remove zzz from above to reply)

Jim Crowther wrote in message ...
In message , Paul Robertson
writes:

I travel to London a lot on business, and this usually involves
standing in line for ages at the ticket machines at Heathrow T123 Tube
in the morning peak, while new arrivals get to grips with the system.

I've been thinking of getting myself an Oystercard with Pre Pay only,
then I can just go straight to the gates, touch in and recharge my
credit later in the day in central London when things are quieter.

I was wondering: if I buy a normal Tube ticket from the touchscreen
machines, I can demand a receipt which I submit as part of my travel
expenses claims; but if I recharge an Oystercard at one of these
machines, can I ask for a receipt to be printed showing the amount
added?

And is it a VAT receipt for those who might need one?

BG question.

Here's an example receipt from a Card-Only Machine:

SALE RECEIPT
PLEASE RETAIN

LONDON UNDERGROUND
SALE: ##.##
card type
#### ########
AUTH ####
EXP: ##/##
SEQ ### ## TID: ########
SMARTCARD D:#### MACH:##
station name
## ITEM date time

And an example ticket receipt from one of the big Cash Machines:

NOT FOR TRAVEL SALE: ##.##
card type #### ####### ## ##
EXP: ##\## TID:######## AUTH:######
ITEM ## date time

Are any of those abbreviations useful for reclaiming VAT?

Brad

Yes tube travel is zero rated however it is still a legitimate business
expense and therefore claimable, you just cant claim VAT where none has been
paid.

You obtain a receipt from the large ticket machines (if you use this for
top-up) do not just expect a credit card voucher.

If you only travel to London on business then this should be enough to
satisfy your company and the Inland Revenue when they come to go through
expense claims.

If there is any question over what trips you have made which are
business/personal remember the ticket office can give you a printout of the
last eight journeys on your card.

Steve

"TheOneKEA" wrote in message
m...
Jim Crowther wrote in message
...
In message , Paul Robertson
writes:

I travel to London a lot on business, and this usually involves
standing in line for ages at the ticket machines at Heathrow T123 Tube
in the morning peak, while new arrivals get to grips with the system.

I've been thinking of getting myself an Oystercard with Pre Pay only,
then I can just go straight to the gates, touch in and recharge my
credit later in the day in central London when things are quieter.

I was wondering: if I buy a normal Tube ticket from the touchscreen
machines, I can demand a receipt which I submit as part of my travel
expenses claims; but if I recharge an Oystercard at one of these
machines, can I ask for a receipt to be printed showing the amount
added?

And is it a VAT receipt for those who might need one?

BG question.

Here's an example receipt from a Card-Only Machine:

SALE RECEIPT
PLEASE RETAIN

LONDON UNDERGROUND
SALE: ##.##
card type
#### ########
AUTH ####
EXP: ##/##
SEQ ### ## TID: ########
SMARTCARD D:#### MACH:##
station name
## ITEM date time

And an example ticket receipt from one of the big Cash Machines:

NOT FOR TRAVEL SALE: ##.##
card type #### ####### ## ##
EXP: ##\## TID:######## AUTH:######
ITEM ## date time

Are any of those abbreviations useful for reclaiming VAT?

Brad

SJCWHUK wrote:
You obtain a receipt from the large ticket machines (if you use this
for top-up) do not just expect a credit card voucher.

If you only travel to London on business then this should be enough
to satisfy your company and the Inland Revenue when they come to go
through expense claims.

If there is any question over what trips you have made which are
business/personal remember the ticket office can give you a printout
of the last eight journeys on your card.

Sounds good to me, thanks. I did a bit of digging since my original
post, and it seems I can top-up with small amounts at a machine and
get a receipt (it's only by phone or online that the minimum recharge
is a tenner), so in practice what I'll do is pay for one journey in
advance so that on my next trip I'll have "a round in the chamber"
when I arrive at Heathrow. I can then avoid the queues and top up
with another £3.80 during the day when the machines in central London
are quieter.

If the receipt proves I used a card ending X to pay £Y at a Tube
ticket machine, that'll satisfy the bean-counters at work, just as
it does for buying singles or LT Cards now.

Thanks to everyone who responded.
--
Paul Robertson )
Glasgow (remove zzz from above to reply)

On Wed, 5 May 2004 at 21:26:03, Paul Robertson
wrote:

I was wondering: if I buy a normal Tube ticket from the touchscreen
machines, I can demand a receipt which I submit as part of my travel
expenses claims; but if I recharge an Oystercard at one of these
machines, can I ask for a receipt to be printed showing the amount
added?

Yes, I think so, especially if you pay by credit card. There's an
on-screen button comes up marked "press for receipt".
--
Annabel Smyth
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/index.html
Website updated 8 March 2004

On Thu, 6 May 2004 at 18:09:24, Paul Robertson
wrote:

If the receipt proves I used a card ending X to pay £Y at a Tube
ticket machine, that'll satisfy the bean-counters at work, just as
it does for buying singles or LT Cards now.

Since you're not going to use your Oyster card regularly, it would be
sensible to register it, in case you lose it. (But I'm sure you knew
that!)
--
Annabel Smyth
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/index.html
Website updated 8 March 2004

In article ,
(Annabel Smyth) wrote:

On Thu, 6 May 2004 at 18:09:24, Paul Robertson
wrote:

If the receipt proves I used a card ending X to pay £Y at a Tube
ticket machine, that'll satisfy the bean-counters at work, just as
it does for buying singles or LT Cards now.

Since you're not going to use your Oyster card regularly, it would be
sensible to register it, in case you lose it. (But I'm sure you knew
that!)

Why register only if you don't use the card regularly?

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On Sun, 9 May 2004 at 12:06:00, Colin Rosenstiel
wrote:

In article ,
(Annabel Smyth) wrote:

On Thu, 6 May 2004 at 18:09:24, Paul Robertson
wrote:

If the receipt proves I used a card ending X to pay £Y at a Tube
ticket machine, that'll satisfy the bean-counters at work, just as
it does for buying singles or LT Cards now.

Since you're not going to use your Oyster card regularly, it would be
sensible to register it, in case you lose it. (But I'm sure you knew
that!)

Why register only if you don't use the card regularly?

Well, indeed - but if you use it regularly, aren't you more likely to
have some kind of season ticket on it? In which case it has to be
registered....
--
Annabel Smyth
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/index.html
Website updated 9 May 2004