Car fuel rebate does not cover costs - Help

paulus

The alternative is for your employer to initially pay for all the fuel and you make good the private costs at HMRC rates, if your employer agrees.

MickKnipfler

paulus wrote: »

The alternative is for your employer to initially pay for all the fuel and you make good the private costs at HMRC rates, if your employer agrees.

Are you sure that's within the rules?

nearlyrich

I have researched this as it affects me too, if you have a company car you can't claim the difference in what it costs and what the employer pays. If the employer pays for fuel ( on a fuel card) there is a set amount of tax you pay on the benefit depending on the size of the engine and I haven't got enough free time to drive the miles I would need to drive for this to be worth paying the tax on.

My way round it is to use cash back cards, any ddeals on fuel and try tomfind the cheapest diesel I can, I have recently asked my employer to look at the rate they pay as I have been on 11p per mile since 2002 and fuel has gone up a lot since then. Being philosophical I know I couldn't buy and run a brand new £20k plus car and replace it every 2 or 3 years if I only paid the Tax and the extra for fuel but if I was a doctor I wouldn't expect to be taxed monthly on my stetheoscope and my company car is a genuine tool of my trade not just a perk for being a director.

cash99

MickKnipfler wrote: »

Are you sure that's within the rules?

Yes it would be as the benefit in kind relates to private fuel provided, therefore if all the private miles are re-imbursed at the approved rate no private fuel has been provided.

This approach is only going to be beneficial if the approved rate is less than the actual cost. If you have a car with a high mpg then you may be worse off.

cash99

nearlyrich wrote: »

If the employer pays for fuel ( on a fuel card) there is a set amount of tax you pay on the benefit depending on the size of the engine ...

Unless all the private fuel is repaid at the approved rate, or the actual lower amount if this can be substantiated. see here http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cars/fuel_company_cars.htm

bb999

Thanks for all the replies. It looks likely that there is no definitive answer, so I will try the phone call / letter tactic and see where it gets me.

It seems fairy logical and straightforward really:
I have a cost wholly in relation to my employment which is the difference between what I pay for fuel for business travel and what I get refunded by my company.

In any other situation you would expect such a cost to be offset against tax, so to my mind there is no difference....... but that may be wishful thinking.

Btw, my employer will only pay for fuel this way, they will not allow me to use my company credit card and then pay them back back for private mileage. Also they will not argue the case with HMRC because they would have to pay me more.
What is really irritating is that I am driving a gas guzzler not through choice but because when my previous car was due for renewal my company managed to buy this one really cheap.

MickKnipfler

cash99 wrote: »

Yes it would be as the benefit in kind relates to private fuel provided, therefore if all the private miles are re-imbursed at the approved rate no private fuel has been provided.

This approach is only going to be beneficial if the approved rate is less than the actual cost. If you have a car with a high mpg then you may be worse off.

This may suit my Brother In Law then as he travels around London a lot and 11ppm nowhere near covers the fuel. He only does a few personal miles so if he can pay them 11ppm then this would probably work out best

ahall41116

with the approval of my line manager, i do the following:

if i drove 100miles, the standard rate would give me 10 in return (100m at 10ppm)

that 100miles would actually cost me around 15 - so i claim for 150miles at 10ppm to recover the cost.

this way, my costs are covered, and everyone is happy.

ash

Treading_Water

ahall41116 wrote: »

with the approval of my line manager, i do the following:

if i drove 100miles, the standard rate would give me 10 in return (100m at 10ppm)

that 100miles would actually cost me around 15 - so i claim for 150miles at 10ppm to recover the cost.

this way, my costs are covered, and everyone is happy.

ash

Sorry, but if your employer is happy to pay the actual costs. Why doesn't he pay you back at 15p per mile? That way you would be recovering your costs and he would be getting an accurate record of business mileage.
Tha HMRC rates are only guidelines after all. As long as they are not paying you more than 40p up to 10000 mles their is no benefit anyway!

ahall41116

jimmo wrote: »

Just how long do you anticipate that you and your line manager will keep your jobs?

i'm not sure i understand - we're not doing anything wrong, are we?