Travel expenses, HTD, GYH?.... help please.

chewy445

having recently left the RAF after 13 years, i have a little time on my hands owing to the current economical climate affecting the job market haha, i thought i would look into something again that never was resolved while i was in the service. claiming back travelling expenses from my home to place of work. yes i know HTD and GYH exist, but like others, the JPA system aint all its cracked up to be and advice comes from people who arn't quite sure on rules and reg's.
i worked on a little section, travelling the country fixing aircraft for other units. main hq was at st athan, then with smaller hubs being set up, i was based out of coningsby. as part of the 'parenting order'(agreed contract between st athan and coningsby, medical and dental, fitness and regiment stuff to be covered by coningsby, but i was still controlled by my hq at st athan.... confusing i know)
this parenting order meant accomodation had to be provided at coningsby for all personell on my team.
i live with my folks, sad i know, but still, they live the other side of the country by Preston, lancashire. now when i went to see the hr people at coningsby about claiming travel expenses, the house i live in, that being the family home, was deemed not my family home on grounds that i dont pay council tax etc...
my thought was that this was my family home and that i was entitled to something. i was doing approx 155 miles on a monday morning, setting off stupid o'clock to get to base for start work, returning on friday afternoons, now to add to confusion, i worked at coningsby for about 4 weeks max in the last year, as previously stated i worked all over the place, alot of my time was at leeming, so i would travel to coningsby to meet the team and then travell onwards to where hq tasked us, but in an mt wagon.
i'm trying to find out if i can claim for travelling between home and work, HM Revenue and Customs have a part on their site that that if working less than 40% at normall work place then you are eligable blah blah... confusing to me. im gonna contact my local hmrc enquirey centre with a more detailled explanation to see where i stand. i have been doing this travell method for approx 3 and half years, without any travel claim, so as you can probs guess, ive paid out a small fortune on fuel during that time.
thankyou for taking time to read this and i appreciate any help and usefull information recieved.
steve

coldstreamalways

You have to be the council tax payer to get GYH I think, you aren't eligible for GYH(EY) as that's for your first three years service.
I'm not sure about HDT, I get that but I travel daily. Have you had LSSA as you're away from duty station?

JSP 752 is what you need, ask someone who is still in to email you a copy. Don't hold your breath though, I think as you didn't own a house, you may not be entitled to anything for your weekly commute.

tocsin

One other thing to look at (even if you get your ex'es) is to claim back tax relief on mileage for journeys to locations other than your main place of work - have a look at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/incometax/relief-mileage.htm

Alias_Omega

I think the only thing you will be able to claim for is Incidental Expenses when away from the base unit, and Subsistance Allowance for food when you were not staying at a military unit.

If you were to claim for travelling back to your parents house at weekends, when you held a room in the block at your parent unit (Coningsby), I think pretty much every other person in the armed forces would be claiming this back. I know for the first 5 years I was in the RAF, I travelled back to my home town, staying at my parents house every other weekend.

HTD is only payable, if you live out and commute to work daily.

GYH is only payable, if you own a house that your family live in (wife etc), or your away on detatchment. If on detatchment in the Uk, usually paid instead of LSSA.

If you want a copy of the JSP 752, you can download a copy from here - https://airspace.raf.mod.uk/airspaceLogon/

Regards,

Alias

martinbuckley

Bottom line - no you cant claim GYH. It has to be your house, with your name on the deeds and the council tax in your name.