Company Car Fuel Relief and 2nd Job

cookie9123

Hi, I'm hoping someone on here can help clarify a question for me.

I have a company car which is classed as BIK and they pay me 11p per mile for business miles. Can I claim any tax relief on this?

I'm also a member of the Army Reserve, which pays me milage at 23p per mile. Can I claim tax relief on this?

I know someone that is in the same situation and is saying that they have claimed, but when I've looked into it on various websites, the information is confusing.

Happy to supply more info as required.

Thanks in advance.

Lee

Grumpy_chap

As I understand it, car use allowances for business use is unusual in that each employment is considered separately whereas most tax matters are cumulative over the year.
Assuming your employer that provides the company car does not object, I understand the tax position as follows:

cookie9123 said:

I have a company car which is classed as BIK and they pay me 11p per mile for business miles. Can I claim any tax relief on this?

No.  The car is taxed correctly as BIK.  The fuel rate appears to match the AMAP.  There is nothing further available.

cookie9123 said:

I'm also a member of the Army Reserve, which pays me milage at 23p per mile. Can I claim tax relief on this?

If this is treated as a separate employment, and considering as a tax question only, then I understand you could claim the difference between 23 pence per mile and 45 pence per mile for the first 10k miles with Army Reserve, then the difference between 23 pence per mile and 25 pence per mile after that.

Your employer may take a dim view if they knew.

cookie9123

Thanks.

I'll look into the Army Reserve part in more detail. I do get taxed at BR and is classed as 2nd employment I suppose.

Would I have to do this through self assessment?

In terms of the dim view, do you mean if I was to claim? Would it affect them?

If you mean as in if they knew I was using the vehicle, then they do and have no problem with it.

Thanks for your help.

Grumpy_chap

This

cookie9123 said:

If they knew I was using the vehicle, then they do and have no problem with it.

So they know and you are all good.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Assuming it is actually genuine business mileage.

cookie9123

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

Assuming it is actually genuine business mileage.

Yes it's genuine.

unholyangel

Unless op is using their own vehicle for the army reserve, I can't see any relief being allowable for either job tbh.

Grumpy_chap

No relief for the first job, but for the second job, the OP is effectively using a private car (it just happens to be the company car for which all tax has been paid).  Use of a private car can be reimbursed at the 45p/25p rates and if the rate of reimbursement is lower (23p) then relief can be claimed for the difference.

Business mileage payments are unusual in that each employment individually qualifies for the 10k miles at the higher rate, there is not an accumulative basis:
EIM31280: Where an employee uses their own vehicle in the course of more than one employment during a single tax year, each employment is treated separately (so each has its own10,000 mile higher rate limit for cars and vans, see EIM31240).

HMRC also make it clear that you can claim for the difference (https://www.gov.uk/expenses-and-benefits-business-travel-mileage/rules-for-tax):

Anything below the ‘approved amount’

You will not have to report to HMRC or pay tax, but:

• your employee will be able to get tax relief (called Mileage Allowance Relief, or MAR) on the unused balance of the approved amount

This assumes that the mileage for Army Reserve is business mileage in the normal definition (and not home to work mileage).

unholyangel

Grumpy_chap said:

No relief for the first job, but for the second job, the OP is effectively using a private car (it just happens to be the company car for which all tax has been paid).  Use of a private car can be reimbursed at the 45p/25p rates and if the rate of reimbursement is lower (23p) then relief can be claimed for the difference.

Business mileage payments are unusual in that each employment individually qualifies for the 10k miles at the higher rate, there is not an accumulative basis:
EIM31280: Where an employee uses their own vehicle in the course of more than one employment during a single tax year, each employment is treated separately (so each has its own10,000 mile higher rate limit for cars and vans, see EIM31240).

HMRC also make it clear that you can claim for the difference (https://www.gov.uk/expenses-and-benefits-business-travel-mileage/rules-for-tax):

Anything below the ‘approved amount’

You will not have to report to HMRC or pay tax, but:

• your employee will be able to get tax relief (called Mileage Allowance Relief, or MAR) on the unused balance of the approved amount

This assumes that the mileage for Army Reserve is business mileage in the normal definition (and not home to work mileage).

3(b) (of s231 itepa 2003) explicitly says relief doesn't apply if the vehicle is a company vehicle. 

Grumpy_chap

But it's not a company vehicle in the context of the second employment (Army Reservist).

Otherwise, the 23 pence per mile they do pay would have to be taxed.

unholyangel

Grumpy_chap said:

But it's not a company vehicle in the context of the second employment (Army Reservist).

Otherwise, the 23 pence per mile they do pay would have to be taxed.

2(b) of s236 says it's a company vehicle if the cash equivalent is to be treated as the employees earnings. Or at least, it's one of the severable criteria of company cars