Help! Mileage Dilemma

Gettingby

I have just started with a company that pays 35p per mile business mileage. In order to claim expenses, I have to submit receipts equal to, or more than the amount I am claiming. My problem is as follows:
Lets say a full tank of fuel is £60 which gets me 500 miles. My mileage expenses would then total £175, (500 miles x 0.35) but the receipt is only £60, which leaves me short £115. They claim the 35p covers fuel, oil, wear & tear, insurance etc but you can only submit receipts for fuel!

We have a second car for personal use so the car in question is only used for business.

Please advise. Your help would be very much appreciated.

marlot

The receipts allow them to offset the VAT. And they assume that the business mileage is just a fraction of the total mileage.

I suspect they won't care if the receipts are for this car or for another as long as they add up to more than the claim. At least the company where I worked which had this policy didn't.

DandelionPatrol

marlot wrote: »

The receipts allow them to offset the VAT. And they assume that the business mileage is just a fraction of the total mileage.

I suspect they won't care if the receipts are for this car or for another as long as they add up to more than the claim. At least the company where I worked which had this policy didn't.

Definitely the reason why. But I suspect that by doing this, they will render OP liable for tax on all the fuel for non business miles as it would then be a benefit.

What they are doing stinks.

jfdi

Do the receipts have to be for fuel or can you submit other car-related receipts too? EG Road Tax, mechanic, tyres etc.

theoretica

What do your colleagues do?

PasturesNew

I suspect you've misunderstood the situation. It's normal to need receipts for all spends EXCEPT fuel expenses, where you'd simply tell them the date, where you went, the miles, how much you're claiming.

You need to speak to somebody to check for yourself .... but I bet you've just been told it wrongly, or misunderstood the situation.

Lorian

No, its quite likely to be the offset VAT thing as others have said.

Marktheshark

Illegal "VAT shelving" by the sounds.

katiepoppycat

My company asks for reciepts too - there is a handy tool on the expenses form that calculates the amount of VAT payable and they ask for petrol reciepts that have that amount of VAT on them. Talk to your HR/Finance bods for some clarification. I'd be surprised if they don;t have some sort of calculator to help you.

lisa110rry

If your company is requiring you to provide petrol receipts that amount to as much as or more than your mileage claim (for a non-company car) then there is something fishy here, are you sure? If you look at the .gov page for company car mileage payments, you will find (depending on the cc of your vehicle), the payments are something between, from memory 9-16p (don't quote me, I manage company car expenses but I drive my own car). The rest of the 45p per mile allowed for the first 10k miles and residual miles at 25p per mile is for wear and tear, etc.

You should be able to submit your petrol/diesel receipts (helps in the event of an audit to prove you did the miles), get paid 35p by your company, and make a further claim by self assessment for the tax relief on the remainder of the 45p up to 10k miles. Your P11D will tell you what to claim.

Gettingby

Unfortunately they have to be for fuel. Very frustrating!!