Business mileage claims as income?

Lisbong

Hi,

I work for the NHS and have to travel regularly to deliver training as part of my role. For this I claim business miles every month. Looking back over my last 12 months payslips, this has totaled approx 3k gross. Will mortgage lenders typically accept this as income? Particularly interested in Nationwide and Halifax but a general view would be good too.

Thanks

Senior_Paper_Monitor

Simple answer - no

Thrugelmir

It's reimbursement of expenses incurred not income.

Lisbong

Ok, thanks for clarifying.

I also checked what I've spent on fuel over the past 12 months which totals approx £1300.

If I take off tax at 40% from the gross mileage expenses, I am slightly in profit. i.e my expenses cover my fuel costs and a bit more. Therefore when it comes to my outgoings and saying what my monthly travel expenses are, I can say zero as the travel costs are covered?

Thanks

ACG

If it asks you would still need to disclose your personal travel expenses.

redux

You don't take 40% tax off it, as it's deemed to be a refund of expenses incurred, and you're allowed to be paid per mile without the taxman counting it as taxable income. If you're not doing that at the moment get some advice.

However, I think it's fair to say what your net travel costs are, which would be low for the travel for work and just count personal travel.

Lisbong

Thanks,

You're right, actually I don't pay tax on it. I had something through last week from HMRC about my travel expenses saying I'd paid nothing in tax.

So if my fuel in total over the year (both personal and business) costs me £1300 and I get 3k back in expenses, surely I can claim that essential travel is net zero?

My personal travel is negligible anyway. I cycle a lot and only really use the car for work. My wife walks to work and uses her car a bit for trips to the supermarket etc but probably only spends £20 per month max.

Can we claim £20 per month for travel costs between us legitimately? I'm not trying to fudge the numbers but I want the application to take account of the fact that my net spend on fuel is at worst cost neutral.

Yorkie1

The amount you get reimbursed for travel includes an allowance for depreciation, wear and tear on consumables such as tyres, insurance etc.

bedfordshireboy

however you try and cut it, it's not taxable therefore not income. Regardless of what you've spent on fuel and claimed back.

Thrugelmir

Lisbong wrote: »

I'm not trying to fudge the numbers but I want the application to take account of the fact that my net spend on fuel is at worst cost neutral.

You've still incurred costs in running the car.

The mileage allowance you are paid just covers the business mileage element of the costs. Doesn't cover any element of personal usage.

Lisbong

I'm not saying it's income. That has already been clarified.

I basically only use the car for work purposes. If I was guessing, I'd say 95% of it's use is for work. Ultimately this has resulted in a total annual expenditure on fuel, regardless of use, of £1300 versus an expenses claim of 3k which I think supports what I'm saying. This can all be seen from bank statements and payslips. I know that the remainder is to cover wear and tear, insurance etc.

I guess what I want to know is, if I declare a nominal amount of personal travel, say £15 per month, will that be ok? If it wasn't used for work, I reckon £15 (1/4 tank) would see me through a month easily.