Mileage claim - assistance if possible

mark_hodg72

So, here is my scenario.

I live on the south coast and work in London. My place of work is London. I pay (myself) a season train ticket to travel from home to work and back again. For ease of discussion, my daily commute is 50 miles there and 50 miles back.

On occasion I have to drive to our other offices - in Telford or Northampton.

Should my mileage claim be from my front door, or from my office in London?

My view is that because I have already paid for my travel to and from my office, plus because I have to drive (because of where I live I can't get the train to the other office until later in the day), my mileage claim should be from my front door rather than deducting the 100 mile round commute that is done on the train.

Our company is reviewing the expenses policy at the moment (so the question isn't what would be right as per our policy), so my question is in regard to HMRC and what is the legally correct claim that should be made?

00ec25

HMRC allow a claim from your front door (provided you do not go via "the office" on the way to your temporary workplace). Section 3.48 page 29 covers that ... read the full manual which all employers must follow:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/490-employee-travel-a-tax-and-nics-guide

your company is free to have whatever policy it wants. many still have the legacy position when previously the HMRC rule was indeed that all business trips had to be net of "normal commuting". As above, that position is no longer the case, but it is at the discretion of the company what they pay.

you can claim for tax relief if the company policy means you are "underpaid"

however, do make sure you understand the rules around "temporary workplaces" and the "24 month rule" given you have not explained in detail why you visit the Telford and Northampton offices "on occasion", see 3.13 - 3.18 and, if you are a "manager", also 3.45