Mileage for business travel, can I claim?

angandjim

Hi,
I have just started a new job, in which I travel a great deal (at least 500 miles per week) I have a car allowance to the value of £400 (before tax) per month and then can claim the huge amount of 20 pence per mile (I know, wow!)

I have never completed a tax return, so am a bit clueless when it comes to tax, but am I able to claim any mileage back via tax, as I am aware that 20p is extremely low. If so, what is the process please? I don't have an accountant or anything as I have always been an employee, if I can (fingers crossed) what evidence etc do I need to present?

At present, I retain my petrol receipts (only to prove that I am regularly filling with the amount of petrol needed to fulfill this amount of miles), I send these off to my employer with a detailed breakdown of miles traveled and venues visited each day for the month. They then (hopefully authorise it) and make payment to me, separate from my wages via BACS, with an advice slip, that merely reads 'expenses' (no breakdown as to whether it was for parking or train travel or mileage). I do not, at the moment, keep a photocopy of my petrol receipts.

Any help would be hugely appreciated, thank you for reading

rs65

20p is okay for a car that you get an allowance for.

Use the P87 form at the end of each tax year.

nick100*2007

Hi. I think you get tax relief on the difference between what you receive from employer (20p) and what the government say is the approved mileage allowance (45p). So if at the end of the year you have driven 6000 business miles, you will have been given £1,200 from your employer, the mileage allowance would put you at £2,700 which means the difference of £1,500 is eligible for tax relief.

£1,500 is added to your personal allowance, so if you're a standard tax rate payer, you get ack the tax you paid on that money. You can expect to get around £300 back.

The only thing I'm not sure about is if your car allowance effects anything. Maybe someone else could confirm.

Nick

Credit-Crunched

Above post is correct, you can claim the difference between the HMRC guidline amount (45P) and what you receive from an employer.

Make sure they are business miles though, and you are not claiming for any commutes to work as they are very hot on that.

jennifernil

Car allowance is just extra income, so does not preclude making a claim.

You should keep a record of the business miles you travel (this presumably is what you already do) so you have your own record should HMRC ask any questions. Petrol receipts are not essential, but you could keep copies in future, just in case.

thenudeone

Car allowance is fully taxed as if it were salary. It's ignored in the mileage rate calculation.

The claim for tax-deductible expenses is based purely on the difference between the HMRC allowed rate per mile (45p for the first 10,000 miles, lower rate thereafter) and whatever your employer has paid you (20p).