We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Vehicle use charges

13»

Comments

  • LilacPixie
    LilacPixie Posts: 8,052 Forumite
    mike_L wrote: »
    Thanks Lilac but HMR&C do state in various documents that commuting is not private use, here's one.

    http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vans/employee-guidance.htm

    Further the company I work for is big and does things by the book, if we were liable to pay tax on the vans for personal/private use then be sure that we would have signed all the relevant papers by now which I have done previously with those companies where personal use was allowed.

    the text i quoted a few posts ago was from the fact sheet that link points too. From the 'employee fact sheet 05/06 onwards'. HMRC start commuting is incidental private use so not taxable but in HMRC eyes defined as 'private use' all the same.

    As I said the 'rights' of your company to charge you 15p a mile will be more to do with your terms and conditions of employment than of a 'tax' basis.
    MF aim 10th December 2020 :j:eek:
    MFW 2012 no86 OP 0/2000 :D
  • k3lvc
    k3lvc Posts: 4,174 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Hence why I'm questioning it. I have two places of work - I spend 50% in one and 50% less travelling time in the other. For the main place I pay to commute to/from but from the secondary place I claim mileage.

    So back to the original question - what exactly will they charge you the 15p per mile for - a daily 'nominal' commute or just those times when they request you visit the office ?
  • LilacPixie
    LilacPixie Posts: 8,052 Forumite
    k3lvc wrote: »
    Hence why I'm questioning it. I have two places of work - I spend 50% in one and 50% less travelling time in the other. For the main place I pay to commute to/from but from the secondary place I claim mileage.

    So back to the original question - what exactly will they charge you the 15p per mile for - a daily 'nominal' commute or just those times when they request you visit the office ?

    See thts my puzzlement. say you finish your final job 10miles from 'home' but 2 miles from your HQ. Would the charge me 10 x 15p? or 8 x 15p what if HQ was 2 miles in opposite direction would it be 12 x 15p? Would you be able to 'adjust' your jobs so you did the closest 2 first and last to minimis your 'commute'?

    TBH I think from a logistics point of view it sounds an unworkable scheme and the time you would spend record keeping, someone checking your records, someone adjusting payroll accordingly could easily outweigh any savings the company would make. Just my opinion though
    MF aim 10th December 2020 :j:eek:
    MFW 2012 no86 OP 0/2000 :D
  • mike_L
    mike_L Posts: 154 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 4 August 2011 at 12:20AM
    LilacPixie wrote: »

    TBH I think from a logistics point of view it sounds an unworkable scheme and the time you would spend record keeping, someone checking your records, someone adjusting payroll accordingly could easily outweigh any savings the company would make. Just my opinion though

    Indeed the company is having serious second thought about this scheme for the very reasons some of you guys have mentioned which have been brought up by the employees. It's actually as yet a proposal along with many others to reorganize the company.

    In the printed reorganization document they haven't given a name or reason for this proposed new charge but in meetings yesterday senior directors upon being queried specifically refered to 'personal use, tax obligations, etc etc' they've obviously not thought this one through too much.

    Some like me will try to demand that they use the vehicle tracker log to charge for the correct mileage between home and first job which will often be less that the home to HQ mileage which is the distance they intend to use for everyone but this is not an option really. They intend to charge on the 'AA' journey planner distance from home address to HQ (35 miles = £5.25 per day/£114 per month for me) with a minimum charge of £3.00 per day even if you live next door to HQ.

    As stated before it may be acedemic whether it's technically private use or not, it's whether they are entitled to make a charge or not, I suspect they are, they'll just term it by some other name if they're not confidant that its technically private use.
  • LilacPixie
    LilacPixie Posts: 8,052 Forumite
    It sounds like a covert way of giving a pay cut without calling it a pay cut.
    MF aim 10th December 2020 :j:eek:
    MFW 2012 no86 OP 0/2000 :D
  • Reading the new posts, it certainly does look like a grey area and I now see what you mean, LilacPixie, about it being defined as private use despite commuting being not taxable.

    I suppose, thinking about it, 99% of employees have to pay their own travel costs of getting to and from work. My 45 minute each-way commute by train is solely work-related, but I still have to pay £3,500 per year for the privilege of doing it ;) Although that being said, it's my choice to work in London but live in Hertfordshire, and the OP has a different "work site" every day, which could make the calculation of "private" commuting mileage a total headache to work out every day. And as someone suggested, if I was having to pay for mileage to the first job of the day, and home from the last job of the day, I would definitely make sure those two jobs were the ones closest to my home!
    DMP Mutual Support Thread member 244
    Quit smoking 13/05/2013
    Joined Slimming World 02/12/13. Loss so far = 60lb in 28 weeks :j 18lb to go :o
  • I'm also an accountant... the personal use of a van and a car are very different. Personal use is a taxable benefit on the employee. However this "benefit" only applies to Vans where personal use is NOT restricted from home to work. I.e if you used your van at the weekend to do the food shop or visit friends. As such in this instance no taxable benefit exists. Your company is simpl trying to save some fuel costs.. Hope this helps and resolves the dispute..
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 352.1K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.6K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 454.2K Spending & Discounts
  • 245.1K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 600.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.5K Life & Family
  • 258.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.