Mileage Allowance Question

Mileage Allowance Question

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I have a 'potential' client who is going self employed as a disabled student support worker.  Her role will involve travelling to various universities and colleges away from her home to support students with varying degrees of disability. 

Question is can she claim mileage allowance whereby she will be travelling from her office which will be based at home to the university/college and back home again.  The round trip will be roughly for one university establishment will be around 70 miles.  The client has roughly calculated based on a five day week, that she could be travelling around 14,000 miles a year.  Her office will be based at home whereby she will receive emails, make appointments, prepare reports, invoices, timesheets and any other documentation associated with the self employment.  The client states that it is likely that she will start with a fixed amount of days or students and build up her work gradually and the 14000 miles might be a slight overestimated!

Any answers appreciated.

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Rebecca Benneyworth profile image
By Rebecca Benneyworth
17th Aug 2011 12:51

I don't see too much of a problem

Your client needs to be based somewhere, and presumably can do some of her work from her office base, such as ongoing support by email etc. Obviously she will have to meet students at least once to design their support programme, and assess their needs properly, but she will probably then be ordering equipment for them and so on which could be done from the office (I know a lot about this as I have a daughter with a disability who is at Uni). So you can establish that the business can be carried on from base, but she then needs to travel. Provided her turnover is below the VAT threshold, then claiming mileage allowance is probably the easiest way to deal with travel.

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Euan's picture
By Euan MacLennan
17th Aug 2011 14:26

Just to add

I agree that the travelling expenses are an allowable tax deduction for a self-employed person, but you could claim all the actual costs (fuel, servicing, RFT, insurance, etc.) and CAs, subject to private use adjustment, instead of the mileage allowance of 45/25p a mile (and would have to if turnover exceeds the VAT registration limit).

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By nick77
20th Aug 2011 09:37

Many thanks Rebecca and Euan  for your comments.

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