Mileage/ Petrol receipt for Newbie Self Employed

BobQ

andi1872 wrote: »

I know this thread is a little old now but as a pet sitter i'm using the 45p rate but i am confused about is keeping petrol receipts.

I keep a detailed spreadsheet containing the date, post code from and to, total miles, total expense and purpose of the trip but do i also need to keep the receipts for every time i fill up the car?

Probably not a good idea to rely on people answering an old thread.

I think the point is that if HMRC are content with your returns then you probably do not need the receipts for petrol. However, if they investigate your tax affairs at random or because you make an incorrect claim, they could ask you to justify anything you claim. So claiming 45p/mile on a journey today might mean you are asked to prove you did the journey. Petrol receipts are one way of showing you have been running a vehicle but its not the only way, better to have an invoice for the work you did in the period of the date of the claim.

Its more important to have petrol receipts if you are VAT registered. In fact many employers processing expense claims for their staff require them to submit petrol VAT receipts to support the firm reclaiming VAT.

andi1872

BobQ wrote: »

Probably not a good idea to rely on people answering an old thread.

I think the point is that if HMRC are content with your returns then you probably do not need the receipts for petrol. However, if they investigate your tax affairs at random or because you make an incorrect claim, they could ask you to justify anything you claim. So claiming 45p/mile on a journey today might mean you are asked to prove you did the journey. Petrol receipts are one way of showing you have been running a vehicle but its not the only way, better to have an invoice for the work you did in the period of the date of the claim.
Its more important to have petrol receipts if you are VAT registered. In fact many employers processing expense claims for their staff require them to submit petrol VAT receipts to support the firm reclaiming VAT.

Sorry, i thought it frowned upon to start new threads when others already existed.
I do keep a detailed spreadsheet of every appointment backed up with a receipt book. I just wasn't sure whether i was supposed to keep petrol receipts too as i obviously keep receipts for any other expense

lijaloo

If you are claiming the flat rate mileage allowance you do not need to keep petrol receipts. If HMRC decided to look at your petrol receipts how would you be able to justify what was business and what was personal mileage?

andi1872

lijaloo wrote: »

If you are claiming the flat rate mileage allowance you do not need to keep petrol receipts. If HMRC decided to look at your petrol receipts how would you be able to justify what was business and what was personal mileage?

Thats what i thought but i just wanted to make sure i was doing everything right. Thank you