Mileage Tracking

Peter_95

Hi there,

I am self-employed and in the last two months, I have been tracking my mileage with Quickbooks. Currently, at the end of each month, I view the total mileage cost for the month and transfer the money to my personal account.

I am wondering if I am I doing this correctly? If so, should I be claiming this as an expense still?

Apologies if this is a stupid question, I just wanted clarity on this.

Thank you

Jeremy535897

A business expense reduces your profits for tax purposes. For motor expenses, you can choose to claim the government mileage rate on business mileage, or the business proportion of all your motor expenses.

From an accounting point of view, you can choose to draw out money from the business equal to the business mileage, or not. The claim against profits is based on what the mileage allowance is, not how you choose to pay for it. In your scenario, therefore, to calculate your tax you deduct the mileage allowance you are entitled to claim, and ignore whether or not you actually paid it to yourself.

Peter_95

@Jeremy535897 Thanks for your help