claiming fuel expenses on a company owned van

mighty_mondo

Hi

for the 5 years ive worked for my employer they have provided a company van & fuel card

they wrote to me giving me notice that my fuel card is being withdrawn, i can keep using the van (no private use) but i will have to pay my own fuel from now on (employer will pay business use only but they do not class to & from work as business use)

my question is how much per mile will i be able to claim back from the tax man?

antrobus

The 40p a mile rate only applies when an employee's vehicle is used for business purposes. The OP has a company van.

To answer the orignal question. If the employer is paying for the business use of the van, then there is nothing to claim back from the tax man.

longforgotten

When they say to and from work....do they mean their company office or wherever you maybe working at the time ?

Also do you take the van home for convenience or because there is no where to park it at the company premises?

It may be a bind but you could leave the van at the company premises. Drive your own vehicle back and for from home to pick up the van.........

jimmo

As the OP almost certainly already knows if you use a company van for work you can avoid any tax benefit charges if you do not use it for private purposes.
Details are here
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vans/vans-info.pdf
The important difference between having a company van as opposed to having a company car is that whilst normal commuting is very much a private journey it does not trigger a benefit charge for a van.
So, when the employer was happy to pay for the fuel for business use and commuting the OP was not facing a benefit tax charge.
Now that the employer is no longer prepared to pay for fuel for commuting the OP still faces no benefit tax charges.
The OP will now have to pay for his fuel for his commuting and I am afraid he cannot claim a penny from the taxman because what he is paying for is a private journey, not a business journey.

mighty_mondo

Hi guys and thanks for all your replies, i feel stupid now as i forgot to mention in my original post that as i work on building sites (based on the same one for 40 odd weeks at a time) that im travel to a 'temporary workplace' - at least i hope its classed as temporary so im able to claim somthing back?

Pennywise

You can't claim travel to a temporary workplace if you don't have a permanent workplace. If your job is simply a succession of sites then that is "normal commuting" and you can't claim for travel for normal commuting.

inmypocketnottheirs

Usuall you would be given an expenses claim form. There would be a field to show what journeys you have made, mileage and how much fuel you have purchased. You would then submit these on a weekly or monthly basis, and they would be reimbursed, generally by return.

If you are doing a conssiderable amount of miles, you may want to ask for a float to cover your anticipated expendidture.

Also, if you were not paying for the cost of fuel getting from home to site, you may want to raise this with your employer to see if they can come up with a solution.