Rules on claiming travel expenses

hel

Hi,

My husband has been working for his employer for the last few months & has worked from home from the start. As he does quite a bit of travelling he was told that he should claim expenses from home.

He has just had a change of manager and now they are saying that he has to foot the first forty miles of travel before he can claim expenses for the rest. This seems extreme because it will mean that our income will drop quite a bit and is much less than he expected when he accepted the job - it's not that he classes the expenses as an income but of course he will have to pay for the petrol for those 40 miles, each journey.

Does anyone know if there are any laws on this or if what they are doing is ok? Even if it is ok I wondered if it would be classed as a change of contract?

We would be grateful for any suggestions that you may have.

Many thanks.

LizzieS_2

Would he have to travel 40 miles per day to work on the employers premises?

hel

No, he delivers a training course and is setting this up in various towns. So for example, he goes to one town a couple of times a week which is approx. 25 miles and then sometimes he goes to meetings with other agencies which can be further afield.

His company premises are actually in London and we're in Yorkshire so he goes on the train when he needs to go there.

Conor_3

He can claim it back from the Inland Revenue. It is a 40p per mile allowance for the first 10,000 miles less any reimbursement from your employer, so if your employer pays 20p per mile, you claim 20p. He would need to complete a P87, Expenses in Employment and submit it at the end of the tax year. Best to keep records.

hel

Thanks Conor,

After the first 40 miles he will get 40 per mile. So, do you mean that he can claim the first 40 miles from the Inland Revenue because his employer isn't paying it?

Also, do you know if there's a rule that says he has to cover the first few miles himself because he works from home (i.e. I would have through it would be acceptable to expect him to pay something like the 1st five miles - which would account for the journey that some people may have to do to their place of work)? If that makes sense...it's hard to put in words!

Andy_L

hel wrote: »

Thanks Conor,

After the first 40 miles he will get 40 per mile. So, do you mean that he can claim the first 40 miles from the Inland Revenue because his employer isn't paying it?

He can claim the tax back on the 1st 40 miles @ 40p/mile (dropping to 25p/mile after X miles - someone will post it soon) not the whole amount.

hel wrote: »

Also, do you know if there's a rule that says he has to cover the first few miles himself because he works from home (i.e. I would have through it would be acceptable to expect him to pay something like the 1st five miles - which would account for the journey that some people may have to do to their place of work)? If that makes sense...it's hard to put in words!

Employers can pay as little mileage as their employees will do the work for. The only rules/laws are that payments in excess of HMRC amounts are subject to income tax.

hel

Thanks for the help, I'll let him know.

Hopefully the situation isn't as bad as it first appeared!

:T