Own car with Fuel Card

gaz1912

I have been searching for an answer to my problem but can't find everything in one place, so I am hoping somebody here can clarify my understanding on something.

I receive a car allowance which is taxed, and currently I claim my mileage back at a rate lass than the AMAP, then claim the tax rebate on the difference.

I have the option for a fuel card which is tied to ME rather than my car - which is good as most of the private miles I do are in the family car, not the car which I use for work.

From what I can gather, as long as there are robust records and my private fuel costs are recorded on my P11D, I only pay my prevailing tax rate on the private fuel used - so from this perspective it would seem to be a no brainer. The private fuel is effectively seen as additional salary in this instance, in the same way as the car allowance is.

However, that depends whether I can still claim the rebate on my business miles, as that is a not insubstantial sum each year.

Again, my understanding is that as I am using my own car, as long as the company are paying LESS than the AMAP (which they will be as they will be paying actuals) I can claim the tax rebate on the difference between the actuals and the AMAP.

Which means I should effectively lose nothing from a tax rebate perspective, but gain based on the (taxed) private fuel.

The logic seems sound, has anyone an opinion/experience of the same?

00ec25

you are correct

business mileage paid at actual by your company will add up to £total X
your business mileage at AMAP will add up to £total Y
if Y - X is positive then you can submit a (tax relief) claim for the difference

private fuel is indeed "just" extra salary and is subject to P11D benefit in kind (so has the advantage of not being subject to NI, unlike a cash pay rise)