Chris L

Just had our new travel policy issued at work and there was something in it that I hadn't seen before. Currently, I get a car allowance and can claim 25p a mile for business use of my private car.

The new policy states that this is still the case but the first 20 miles in either direction cannot be claimed. Now in the grand scheme of things, this is not that significant, but I was wondering if other people have similar clauses in their company policies? As far as I have always been aware, if you used your personal car for company business then you are entitled to a per mileage rate.

Chris

fatharry

I get 40p per mile for business use

As far as I'm aware you can claim for each mile

boxst

You are not supposed to claim the daily commute: so if you are 30 miles from the office and visit a customer that is 60 miles away you are supposed to claim for 30 miles. Perhaps they worked out an average distance for people going to the office?

Steve

Matteeboy

Should be 40p per mile up to 10k then it's 25p.

Oh and not many people seem to know that it's 45p if you share the journey.

OllyK

You can claim the tax back on the difference between what you company pays you and the 40p the Inland Revenue allow you to have.

SJ_Skyline

You will need to obtain a claim form from Inland Revenue (they are not out on the website yet so call your tax office) and they are likely to ask you for evidence of your claim so keep a log of all the business trips that you make. They asked me for this last year, a simple spreadsheet of where, when and purpose was sufficient.

HTH

Steve vRS

Form P87.

Steve

r32

Thats crap, if I were you I'd tell them you werent going to use your motor for their benefit as its going to cost you money.

Dazza01

Thats what i get too

Devildog

Actually Matt, its what your employer sees fit to reimburse you at. The 40p/25p is simply what HMRC will allow untaxed.

Chris,

Many companies will only reimburse for mileage from the place of work to client site and back. That's fair enough IMO as we all have to get to work in the first place.

But as for the first 20 miles in either direction - that's just not on.

I'd use public transport and reclaim the cost of that.

Devildog

Absolutely, but its a pain in the **** to have to do that.

richs2891

mmm I would be asking either for the use of the pool car (if have one) or asking for a hire car !

Richard

SJ_Skyline

True - but last year it was a pain in the **** worth around £600 to me

Chris L

Thanks guys - Devildog's post is pretty much as I understood it too. just curious about other firms having similar types of policies.

Drunken Bungle Whore

My current employer refuses to pay any mileage claims unless they are accompanied by a VAT receipt for petrol put into the car immediately prior to the journey being made.....

Steve vRS

I had to put in VAT receipts for fuel used in a private car but as long as the amount covered the mileage done, that was sufficient for my employer and the tax man.

Steve

JackClark

My last place was 10p a mile, but I did get a big fat car allowance.

scoob_babe

What happens if you have a full tank for a private car and get called out somewhere say 4 days later and no longer have the receipt?

Matteeboy

Well seeing as I AM my employer (wife and I run a Ltd Company), can I claim more?!

scoob_babe

You can probably do what you please as long as the tax is correct but OP is an employee and all the advice is for employees, not owners of ltd companies so it could be different!

scoob_babe

I forgot to put this before, sorry. The last company I worked for tried to implement a mileage policy similar to this in that you could only claim for the distance between the base office and the client site. This didn't work well for those that lived the 'wrong side'. I'd have been quids in as most of the client offices were MK and miles from Chertsey!!
There is some kind of rule that did apply if you are not in the office for more than a certain percentage of the time. Since we were supposed to be out on client site for >75%, the company had to back down. Bunch of pirates anyway - I left before things got messy!!

Drunken Bungle Whore

It's tough t1tty I'm afraid. It's happened to people. And they wonder why the morale is low.....

scoob_babe

Guess its a case of asking for VAT receipts every time on the off chance then.

Drunken Bungle Whore

Most of us get VAT receipts all the time and have them handy whenever anyone else is in need. No-one ever checks reg plates or even if it's petrol or diesel....