Travel allowance, taxable or not work changed it without notification?

scottishf

For the last 6 months or so I was given a travel allowance as I live quite far from where i am working at present. This has been on the right hand side of my wage slip meaning I was not taxed on it. Suddenly without any notice or warning this has appeared this month on the left hand side of my wage slip meaning that I have paid 40 quid tax and 20 quid NI extra this month. does anyone know if i should have been paying tax on this before ? and can they do this without notice ?

dzug1

It's taxable and you probably should have been paying tax before

There may be (and I'm very uncertain about this) a short term concession when you have just started working (for the same company) at a different location. If that is the case it sounds as though it's just ended. But it could just have been a mistake.

Pumpkinface_2

I am not aware of any tax free travel allowances due to living far away from your regular place of work. I think you really should have been always taxed on it.

trevormax

It should be taxable unless you are working somewhere which is not your main workplace. For instance, if your employer has 2 buildings quite far from one another (miles), and you have been asked to work in the other one for a period of time not longer than 24 months, then this is a temporary workplace and you can get tax free expenses paid by your employer.

If it's any consolation, you are still better off than everyone who does not get money given to them to pay for commuting to work. So you have to pay tax on this amount, but if you didn't get the money you would be far worse off.

Andy_L

If it was as the result of a transfer to a different site that was planned to be "temporary" then a mileage allowance is non-taxable. If that transfer then becomes "permanent" then it becomes taxable.

scottishf

Thanks for all the advice

Goldenyears

Just to be clear about this- if it is either planned in advance that the excess travel will be more for than 24 months or for an indeterminate period, then travel expenses are taxable from the start. There should be no period of grace. If the OPs expenses were initially tax free then that is either a mistake or more unusually the employer elected to temporarily pay the additional tax for the employee (which can lead to anomalies if the employee is close to the higher rate threshold, but that's another story).

scottishf

Thanks for all the comments. Just got a letter today saying that it had been a mistake and that my tax code will be adjusted to claw back all the tax I should have been paying