Didn’t Understand - signed new employment contract

chapelhouse123

I worked for a company locally, they asked me to go work in London 130 miles away from my home address, I’m a surveyor they pay my travel expenses, I used the train 4 days per week to London and back home. I resigned from the company May 2019. I received a P11D Tax bill on 10th June 2020 for 5.5k.
I signed a new contract of employment back in May 2018 stating that my new place of employment was the companies London office, genuinely having no understanding of the future tax implications ahead of me. This wasn’t explained or pointed out to me. I had previously been self employed for 28 years so had little experience of employment contracts. I want to fight this but don’t know if I’m wasting my energy, it’s pretty stressful, I am now self employed again.
Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks  

pramsay13

I'm not sure I fully understand.

Are you wanting the company to rescind the contract that your base is in London so that you can claim some element of travel expenses from HMRC?

If so it won't work as your new place of work was London, whether or not your contract stated it.

molerat

It is not up to the employer to explain tax implications, it is not their field, that is for an accountant to explain and yourself to understand.  You were paid for travel to your permanent place of employment so a taxable payment.  Nothing to argue I am afraid.

TELLIT01

If your time was split between the old office and London you might have a case for being able to claim the travel costs as expenses (which I assume is where the tax bill has come from) but not when you were based in London. 

Undervalued

chapelhouse123 said:

I worked for a company locally, they asked me to go work in London 130 miles away from my home address, I’m a surveyor they pay my travel expenses, I used the train 4 days per week to London and back home. I resigned from the company May 2019. I received a P11D Tax bill on 10th June 2020 for 5.5k.
I signed a new contract of employment back in May 2018 stating that my new place of employment was the companies London office, genuinely having no understanding of the future tax implications ahead of me. This wasn’t explained or pointed out to me. I had previously been self employed for 28 years so had little experience of employment contracts. I want to fight this but don’t know if I’m wasting my energy, it’s pretty stressful, I am now self employed again.
Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks  

I'm sorry but that is what accountants, solicitors, professional bodies and / or trades unions are for. It is not your employer's responsibility. Your employer is on one side of the contract, you are on the other. If you don't understand the implications then you need to have found out before signing. 

Unless anything in the contract is unlawful, in which case those aspects wouldn't be enforceable despite you having agreed, I don't see how you can "fight" it now. Obviously you can threaten to resign unless they agree to terms you prefer but that depends on how valuable you are to them and how easy you would be to replace.

AskAsk

as others have said, you would be wasting your time.  it is up to you to check what you are signing before you do so.

Brynsam

chapelhouse123 said:

I signed a new contract of employment back in May 2018 stating that my new place of employment was the companies London office, genuinely having no understanding of the future tax implications ahead of me. This wasn’t explained or pointed out to me. 

What did you expect to be 'explained or pointed out' to you? 

Undervalued said:

chapelhouse123 said:

 I resigned from the company May 2019. I received a P11D Tax bill on 10th June 2020 for 5.5k.

Obviously you can threaten to resign unless they agree to terms you prefer but that depends on how valuable you are to them and how easy you would be to replace.

Bit late for that - OP resigned last year.

JCS1

Is the P11D total value for £5.5k?  You won't pay all of that, it will be based on your tax rate.
The accountant you use for your self employed work should be able to help explain

chapelhouse123

Thanks for all comments, all helpful, thank you 

Sandtree

Travel expenses being a perk or legitimate expenses is subject to where your permanent place of work is... and it can be more than one place. Whilst the contract helps evidence that London was a permanent arrangement the determination is not by contract alone and so even if you had refused to sign the contract but the intent was for you to visit the London office four times a week for the foreseeable future then expenses paid would be a perk and so taxable. 

Marcon

chapelhouse123 said:

 I want to fight this but don’t know if I’m wasting my energy, it’s pretty stressful, I am now self employed again.

I have more sympathy than some of the other people answering. If you don't know there's a question to be asked, let alone what that question is, you can't ask it!

You can't 'fight' HMRC, who are applying the rules. You can't 'fight' your former employer, who has done nothing wrong - unless (and here it's worth looking again at your contract with your former employer) there is some mention of paying 'travel costs and any tax arising', or words to that effect.