More on business mileage...........

rcj1959

I have a company vehicle but have the responsibility of claiming back business miles at the rate of 0.09/mile which I am told is what the IR allow for business mileage. Frequently I am expected to ferry goods en route from home to office each morning and vice versa each evening. Despite the fact that these goods are commodities which are subsequently sold to our customers, my employer refuses to allow me to claim business miles for the distances travelled carrying these goods because I do not deviate from my normal home to work driving distance. If I had to travel out of my way then I am told that I could claim for the additional mileage. Is this correct?

reddevilled

That sounds about right. Just because you are delivering something on route to work or home doesn't stop it being a private journey (ie home to work).

If your employer did pay you mileage for this, then it couldn't be tax free, as it is a private journey.

But yes, if you have to deviate signifiacntly then you should be able to claim additional mileage costs.

HTH

ted_2

i am not sure whether this is off topic or not really. i earn and pay tax paye, but i also submit a self-assessment for some money i earn cash during the year. this gives me the opportunity to claim business expenses back.

i have managed to offset all my tax by claiming the tax back on mileage i do in my own car for work , but don't claim the mileage for. for example and evening meeting with colleagues, or a trip with work colleagues for a 'night out' - also claim the meal then too. the tax man seems to be quite happy with this, it amounted to £800 from my taxable income last year.

anybody got any other good tips?

cheers

reddevilled

ted wrote:

i have managed to offset all my tax by claiming the tax back on mileage i do in my own car for work , but don't claim the mileage for. for example and evening meeting with colleagues, or a trip with work colleagues for a 'night out' - also claim the meal then too. the tax man seems to be quite happy with this, it amounted to £800 from my taxable income last year.
cheers

I can see how you could claim for mileage incurred for an evening meeting with colleagues but not a night out. In order to be able to claim a tax deduction the cost must be incurred "wholly, necessarily and exclusively" for the purposes of your employment. Are you suggesting you go on a p!ss up and claim this back? If so, that is wrong. If not, I've misunderstood what you're saying.

When you say that the tax man is quite happy with this, do you mean that he has never enquired into you - or that you have given him the complete facts and he has ok'd it. Just wondering cos I'm a little confused

nearlyrich

You can't claim tax relief for you usual commute.

MPwannasavemoney

I had understood from the thick document from the inland revenue entitled 'using your own car for work' a few years ago that if take a journey from home to another place and then to work for business purposes the whole journey becomes a business journey not a private one thus you could claim the mileage. The document had specific examples of this. Sorry, I haven't checked on the inland revenue site recently to see if this document still exists or has been updated.

Altarf

MPwannasavemoney wrote:

I had understood from the thick document from the inland revenue entitled 'using your own car for work' a few years ago that if take a journey from home to another place and then to work for business purposes the whole journey becomes a business journey not a private one thus you could claim the mileage. The document had specific examples of this. Sorry, I haven't checked on the inland revenue site recently to see if this document still exists or has been updated.

Employee travel, A tax and NICs guide for employers - 490

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/helpsheets/490.pdf