Carers allowance expenses sheet vs AMAP mileage

J1638

Hello,

i am self employed and sent 24/25 tax return with CA claim. They got back to me with a table to fill in with business vs personal expenses. I use AMAP rates for delivery work, and not sure how to fill it in. Situation is complicated - 2 cars used partly for business partly personal, and personal is between me & partner. Hence using AMAP for tax return for simplicity. I am not sure how to calculate / estimate correct figures if I don’t have all the receipts. Can I stick to AMAP and how to provide them on the form if they want it itemised? Any help appreciated.

Thanks.

subjecttocontract

If you dont have receipts how can you expect to know how much to claim ?

born_again

J1638 said:

Hello,

i am self employed and sent 24/25 tax return with CA claim. They got back to me with a table to fill in with business vs personal expenses. I use AMAP rates for delivery work, and not sure how to fill it in. Situation is complicated - 2 cars used partly for business partly personal, and personal is between me & partner. Hence using AMAP for tax return for simplicity. I am not sure how to calculate / estimate correct figures if I don’t have all the receipts. Can I stick to AMAP and how to provide them on the form if they want it itemised? Any help appreciated.

Thanks.

I think this might be better in tax section. (move requested)
But you really should be keeping a log of your business mileage & receipts for costs. As well as may be given 2 cars, just stick to one for business.

J1638

I use AMAP rates. This is simplified method to record just mileage of business trip, and use 45p/25p per mile as costs to avoid digging into details like fuel, MOT etc and how much was business how much personal. 

I have used this method for 10 years and never kept receipts, cause they were not required, just mileage log. Until now that I claimed CA and not sure what to do?

With regards to using 2 cars - normally it is just one, but in that particular year it needed major repairs and was off the roads for several months. During that time another family car was used for business; specifically added H+R insurance & increased mileage to keep it legal. And because if cash basis / AMAP it was simple to keep mileage log - just daily notes of mileage, hours driven & company I provider services for.

I guess I could add up all fuel etc by going through bank statements, but I have no way of splitting them between personal and business use. This is why AMAP was intruduced - if you are using your own car for business. It works for tax, I don’t understand why DWP make it more difficult and how to get round it?

thanks

sheramber

You must have a log of business miles to claim AMAP.

Total mileage less than business miles equals personal use. 

That will give you percentage business use and percentage personal use.

Expenses are split on these percentages. 

J1638

I get that, but I do not know my personal miles to calculate the % - how would I know? I only keep log of business miles, not personal. And MOT is not in April, inconsistent year by year so I can’t go by that. Is there any chance Carers Allowance will accept AMAP without detailed breakdown? I do not want to guesstimate numbers if I have no confidence in them.

huckster

Why not contact Carers Allowance and ask them. It won't be the first time this question has been asked, as you are not the only person using this method.  It might just be that no one on MSE has come across this.

J1638

I can’t - they are closed at weekends! The letter they sent is dated 15th but only arrived by post yesterday and they gave me a deadline to receive it back by 29th. Which means I need to send it back first thing tomorrow if royal mail takes that long and if I’m lucky they receive it on time. Hence asking as I need to fill it in today, I’m sure there are other couriers carers who have been in the same situation and can advise? Thanks!

born_again

J1638 said:

I get that, but I do not know my personal miles to calculate the % - how would I know? I only keep log of business miles, not personal. And MOT is not in April, inconsistent year by year so I can’t go by that. Is there any chance Carers Allowance will accept AMAP without detailed breakdown? I do not want to guesstimate numbers if I have no confidence in them.

Should be easy to work out.
You should know mileage on car now. Take off business miles. What is left then between last years claim mileage reading & the total is your personal.

So last year you had 10,000 on car. You now have 20,000 on car. You have done 8,000 B miles. Therefore you have done 2,000 personal miles.

huckster

So why not phone them Monday to ask the question and advise on delays with receiving letter, so your reply will be delayed.

J1638

Born_again, how do I know what mileage was on each car in April 2024 and April 2025 if I only know how many business miles I’ve done, not personal? I haven’t kept track of personal or total miles.

Huckster that’s a good idea, I will give them a call before work, thanks.