"Netting off" commuting mileage for business mileage claims

MoneySavingAndy

Hi there,

I'm sure this question must have been asked a zillion times before but I couldn't find an answer after searching the forums.

I currently travel to client site most days by bicycle (14 miles per day). Normal commuting to and from my base office is 6 miles per day.

Unfortunately, my company does not currently reimburse expenses for travel by bike - if they did I would expect to claim (14-6) * £0.20 = £1.60 per day. In that example I have "netted off" the 6 miles a day that I would normally commute to claim only the additional 8 miles to get to the client's offices.

I have a vague recollection that unlike most company expenses policies, HMRC take into account the full distance when you travel to client site for business travel expenses, i.e. 14 miles per day in my case, for tax relief and that you don't have to "nett off" the normal commuting distance.

Can anyone out there confirm this, please - in other words, should I claim tax relief on 14 or 8 miles per day?

It might seem like a trivial sum, but over a year this makes a reasonable difference to the tax relief - if my employer won't pay for this (to be fair, they are reconsidering their policy now that I have raised the matter) then I will at least claim what I am entitled to from HMRC!

Thanks in advance folks,

Andy.

ceh209

Yes that's correct, claim the 14 miles a day.

This sort of explains it - paragraph 3.39 http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/helpsheets/490-chapter3.pdf

I know you don't necessarily stop at work on the way, but its the best I could find!

Then again, do you always travel to the same client site? Any chance HMRC could claim that's your permanent workplace?

MoneySavingAndy

Thanks very much - that link is very helpful.

Cheers,

Andy.