Should I be taxed on these travel expenses?

kodak1

Hi all,

I'm a self-employed teacher working for multiple employers.  For one of my University teaching posts I travel a 260 mile round trip (usually 2 or 3 visits per month), and claim back the travel.  I either travel by train or car, and I'm allowed to claim reimbursed expenses up to £100 per visit (train ticket is typically £85).

I have noticed on my payslips that I am being taxed on these expense claims - is this correct?  I only noticed because one payslip had no hours worked (over the summer holidays I didn't visit) and it is clear that I am being taxed on my expenses.  My payslip shows:
     Hourly income = £0.00   (no hours worked that month)
     Expenses = £124.60   (travel claims from the previous month)
     Total payments = £124.60
     PAYE = £25.00
     Net payment = £99.60

When I looked back at previous payslips I realised I am being taxed on all my travel claims, which seems odd given that it is a direct reimbursement.  Is this correct/normal or has my employer made a mistake?  And how should I go about claiming this when I do my annual self-assessment tax return?

Many thanks in advance for your wisdom! 

Nomunnofun1

kodak1 said:

Hi all,

I'm a self-employed teacher working for multiple employers.  For one of my University teaching posts I travel a 260 mile round trip (usually 2 or 3 visits per month), and claim back the travel.  I either travel by train or car, and I'm allowed to claim reimbursed expenses up to £100 per visit (train ticket is typically £85).

I have noticed on my payslips that I am being taxed on these expense claims - is this correct?  I only noticed because one payslip had no hours worked (over the summer holidays I didn't visit) and it is clear that I am being taxed on my expenses.  My payslip shows:
     Hourly income = £0.00   (no hours worked that month)
     Expenses = £124.60   (travel claims from the previous month)
     Total payments = £124.60
     PAYE = £25.00
     Net payment = £99.60

When I looked back at previous payslips I realised I am being taxed on all my travel claims, which seems odd given that it is a direct reimbursement.  Is this correct/normal or has my employer made a mistake?  And how should I go about claiming this when I do my annual self-assessment tax return?

Many thanks in advance for your wisdom! 

I think that you need to seek professional advice. In my opinion you are not self-employed as stated in your first sentence. Indeed you make several references you indicate that you are employed e.g. allowed to claim reimbursed expenses, payslips, ‘my employer’, previous payslips etc. 

Moreover, you have indicated that PAYE is deducted. Quite clearly your ‘employer’ regards you as an employee and is notifying HMRC accordingly each time that you receive a payment. HMRC, therefore, has a PAYE record for you and you also intend to declare this income as ‘self-employment’.

This could evolve into an almighty mess. To me you are an employee and should be declaring income as such as your employer is doing.

Do you submit invoices on business notepaper? Have you a separate business bank account? Who determines your hours of work? What form do your contracts take? 

On-the-coast

As a cross check, I’m employed, occasionally claim back travel expenses - but these do not go through payroll & are not taxed. 

TheGreenFrog

kodak1 said:

Hi all,

I'm a self-employed teacher working for multiple employers.  For one of my University teaching posts I travel a 260 mile round trip (usually 2 or 3 visits per month), and claim back the travel.  I either travel by train or car, and I'm allowed to claim reimbursed expenses up to £100 per visit (train ticket is typically £85).

I have noticed on my payslips that I am being taxed on these expense claims - is this correct?  I only noticed because one payslip had no hours worked (over the summer holidays I didn't visit) and it is clear that I am being taxed on my expenses.  My payslip shows:
     Hourly income = £0.00   (no hours worked that month)
     Expenses = £124.60   (travel claims from the previous month)
     Total payments = £124.60
     PAYE = £25.00
     Net payment = £99.60

When I looked back at previous payslips I realised I am being taxed on all my travel claims, which seems odd given that it is a direct reimbursement.  Is this correct/normal or has my employer made a mistake?  And how should I go about claiming this when I do my annual self-assessment tax return?

Many thanks in advance for your wisdom! 

Your employer regards these as non-deductible for tax purposes:  from their perspective this is logical as costs of travelling to and from the place of work are not generally deductible.  Give that you work for multiple employers, I would echo @Nomunnofun1's suggestion that you seek professional advice.

Bookworm105

On-the-coast said:

As a cross check, I’m employed, occasionally claim back travel expenses - but these do not go through payroll & are not taxed. 

as an employee there will be travel and other expenses which are non taxable

however I agree with the posts above, you sound like an employee in that instance and therefore, whilst it is permitted for the employer to pay home to work travel, it will always be a taxable expense because the taxpayer is not in the business of funding your choice of where to live in relation to where you work by giving you tax free commuting.

sounds like you need to seek professional advice on each of your contracts so you understand why you are an employee on some and possibly genuinely self employed on others 

Nomunnofun1

Bookworm105 said:

On-the-coast said:

As a cross check, I’m employed, occasionally claim back travel expenses - but these do not go through payroll & are not taxed. 

as an employee there will be travel and other expenses which are non taxable

however I agree with the posts above, you sound like an employee in that instance and therefore, whilst it is permitted for the employer to pay home to work travel, it will always be a taxable expense because the taxpayer is not in the business of funding your choice of where to live in relation to where you work by giving you tax free commuting.

sounds like you need to seek professional advice on each of your contracts so you understand why you are an employee on some and possibly genuinely self employed on others 

It’s forty years since I dealt with these (proud of myself for remembering the word peripatetic) but Inrember that they were regarded as employees.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim70760

kodak1

Thanks for the replies, very helpful. 

Apologies, I didn't word my original sentence properly - you are correct that I am an employee of the university in question (and 3 other employers), albeit the work is irregular.  In addition to this I am also self-employed for a number of other roles (e.g. examiner, private teaching).  Because some of my work is freelance/cash-based I declare that additional income with self-assessment tax.

What I'm trying to understand is - should travel to/from a place of work be taxed when you have an employer, but your work is of an irregular nature?  My work for other employers is more regular and on fixed days (e.g. Mon & Tues I work for one company), so I regard travel for those jobs as a commute.  My university work on the other hand is more ad-hoc, so it seems a grey area whether the travel reimbursement should be taxable.  I guess it boils down to what is the definition of a commute...

I will still be looking for professional advice, but any links to official info would be appreciated.

@Nomunnofun1 yes you are right I am what is known as a peripatetic teacher, that link is particularly helpful thankyou!

 

Bookworm105

Nomunnofun1 said:

Bookworm105 said:

On-the-coast said:

As a cross check, I’m employed, occasionally claim back travel expenses - but these do not go through payroll & are not taxed. 

as an employee there will be travel and other expenses which are non taxable

however I agree with the posts above, you sound like an employee in that instance and therefore, whilst it is permitted for the employer to pay home to work travel, it will always be a taxable expense because the taxpayer is not in the business of funding your choice of where to live in relation to where you work by giving you tax free commuting.

sounds like you need to seek professional advice on each of your contracts so you understand why you are an employee on some and possibly genuinely self employed on others 

It’s forty years since I dealt with these (proud of myself for remembering the word peripatetic) but Inrember that they were regarded as employees.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim70760

LOL, I am a bit more recent than that re university staff hence the nudge to get someone to explain it to him why it is not self employment ...

Bookworm105

kodak1 said:

What I'm trying to understand is - should travel to/from a place of work be taxed when you have an employer, but your work is of an irregular nature?  My work for other employers is more regular and on fixed days (e.g. Mon & Tues I work for one company), so I regard travel for those jobs as a commute.  My university work on the other hand is more ad-hoc, so it seems a grey area whether the travel reimbursement should be taxable.  I guess it boils down to what is the definition of a commute...

 

a commute is travel from your home to your normal place of employment, pure frequency is not a deciding factor. 

it would be normal for a lecturer to have a contract that requires them to attend the university rather than a contract which stipulates they are 100% working from home. As such all journeys to the university are "normal commuting" and thus, if paid by the employer, are no different to you getting a pay rise, they are simply extra (taxable) pay. 

expenses 490 is the bible for travel 
Ordinary commuting and private travel (490: Chapter 3) - GOV.UK

For your self employed work you are "home" based and in principle every journey made is business travel to a temporary workplace, not a commute (of course there are nuances which mean certain types of work travel are taxable, but they won't relate to you)