Carers allowance expenses sheet vs AMAP mileage

born_again

J1638 said:

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.

I would suggest that you start keeping a log. Be that in a diary or on computer (spreadsheet)

As simple as. Make a note of you annual mileage when your claim is due. All you need to do is log business miles & it's easy to work out personal miles.

End of the day if tax man/dwp decides to check, at the moment you have nothing to back up your side of your claim. 🤷‍♀️

Grumpy_chap

I wonder whether the OP is over-complicating this?

Obviously, as Born_again has said, the future can be managed by keeping a log.  That can't be done retrospectively.  

The seemingly logical thing to do is to note down the information that the OP does have and apply a sensible and plausible calculation (which they keep records of and can share with HMRC if need be).  So long as there is a rational determination of the split between business and personal mileage, HMRC would normally accept that or, if challenging the outcome, accept that the discrepancy was genuine error and not an attempt to deceive.

The OP has a record of their business mileage for the tax year April 2024 - April 2025.
The OP needs start and end car mileage for the same period to know what the personal mileage was in the same period.  This start and end mileage is not available for the corresponding dates.
What the OP does have is the MOT mileage for 12-month period starting before April 2024 and ending before April 2025.  The OP may even have the MOT mileage for the full year running across the April 2025 year end.
The OP may also have mileage records if the car was serviced, had new tyres, breakdown call-out, etc. in the period of interest.  There are quite a lot of potential events that might have a mileage record.

The OP can set out the data they do have and then take a starting point that personal mileage was straight-line across that period to give a mileage per month and then calculate the same for the tax year.
Then make an adjustment for known anomalies.  For example, maybe:
 - personal mileage was unusually high in December because of a drive to the other end of the country to visit relatives.  Add 1k personal miles.
 - personal mileage was unusually low in May because of two-week holiday abroad.  Deduct half a "typical" personal mileage month.
 - personal mileage changed in September because of a change of work place.  Make an adjustment to the personal mileage profile.
 - whatever.

I think, if the OP spends a little time with a spreadsheet, it should be possible to get a viable split between personal and business mileage.

I note that others have suggested calling to obtain clarification as to process.  I might caution as to whether that is wise as, once the OP has flagged to "an official" that there might be a discrepancy with data, it might leave the OP's file marked for audit verification.

J1638

Thanks Grumpy_chap, yes that’s exactly the situation - i know what to do moving forward, but I have not anticipated that before becoming a carer out of a sudden - and now chasing bank statements from closed accounts to work out actual costs etc. I called them, haven’t told them I am unsure of the figures just asked whether I can use AMAP and they said “you can do in the notes but it will be down to assessor to decide, they may insist on more evidence” and apparently it takes 9 weeks to review so I need to get it acceptable first time. Would it help if I provide any estimated figures if I state figures accurate +/- 5% or something like that?

Grumpy_chap

J1638 said:

Would it help if I provide any estimated figures if I state figures accurate +/- 5% or something like that?

I truly do not know.
Except, in my expectation, submitting the figures and drawing attention to the potential inaccuracy is only likely to draw close scrutiny and drag everything out longer.

If this was me, and considering the feedback you provided from the phone conversation, I would:

• EITHER work out the mileage expenses using AMAP and add one short note along the lines of "mileage is based upon accurate records of travel plus the approved AMAP rates."
• OR work out the apportionment with appropriate adjustments as per my post two upthread and then simply enter the mileage claim figure with a short note along the lines of "mileage is based upon an apportionment of costs between private and business miles covered".

I would not, in either case, go adding long, complex calculations or spreadsheets or any such supporting evidence.  IMO that is for the assessor to request additional information if required.

I do think it is a case of "less is more" in terms of what you say.  Adding a long explanation will, IMO, highlight the potential inaccuracy and draw attention to initiate an audit of everything.

BUT, I actually have no idea so my thoughts may be entirely wrong.  Sorry I cannot be more help.  Others in the forum may have more direct knowledge of process and able to comment on whether my line of thinking is appropriate.