Evening...
As unusual as it sounds the title is a real scenario, and I would greatly appreciate some learned views on the matter. Some facts...
- I have a normal 'day' job. Standard PAYE stuff.
- My day job provides me with a company car and an agreement that I may claim business mileage but not personal mileage.
- I am the Owner/Director and sole employee of my own small part time business.
- I sometimes make journeys to events for my business at various locations, in the vehicle provided for me by my 'day' job. Under more normal circumstances I would claim this mileage as expenses.
Question: What if anything should I claim as expenses for business trips?
Intuitively, I feel like I should be claiming something but not the full HMRC mileage amount. My thinking is that I have genuine out-of-pocket fuel expenses but the HMRC mileage amount must also include provision for general wear and tear etc. Given that the car belongs to my employer and they pay for repairs, tyre etc then they pay for this not me. It is therefore, unreasonable for me to claim this. I am however already taxed on this via PAYE from my primary employer as the company car is a benefit in kind.
Help appreciated.
Replies (21)
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This is a question you can ask of the accountant who deals with your business. This is exactly the sort of advice they will provide as part of their service.
This forum is for accounting and finance professionals, not individuals or businesses looking for free advice.
The most helpful suggestion I can make, apart from asking your own accountant, is that you should never use the word "intuitively" when dealing with any tax matters.
Does your "day job" employer know about your self-employment/company? What does your contract of employment say about outside business interests?
Is your company car insured for your non-employment business use? It would be a very unusual policy indeed that covered you.
Does your "day job" employer know about your self-employment/company? What does your contract of employment say about outside business interests?
Is your company car insured for your non-employment business use? It would be a very unusual policy indeed that covered you.
Good point about the employer knowing about the business use, although to an extent if they permit private use (whether limited to a set mileage or not) then they probably don't care. As far as they are concerned, this is private us of their car by an employee (albeit for the employees own moonlighting purposes) The OP should first check that the employer doesn't object to the 'second job' and then check that the employer doesn't object to use of the car therein, out of courtesy if nothing else.
As for the cover for non-employment business use, I personally would check but I don't think it would be as unusual as you think.
What a generous employer - providing you with a company car AND allowing you to claim business mileage. I assume that, in addition to the car BIK, you are also ensuring that your mileage payments are being taxed?
It's straightforward because a) it's a statement about what you can claim (you can claim what you want; you might be a fool to pay it) and b) it doesn't tell you the tax consequences.
Still feeling grateful? Talk to an accountant; forget on-liners' one-liners.
Mike doesn't care about that though as he's got the answer he wanted. He's probably gone straight down the pub and told all his mates how clever he is for avoiding accountants'' fees.
Why did s/he want a meaningless answer?
There's a more meaningful answer to be found in what Ruddles has said, though that's gone [as I write] unthanked.
The answer has possibly gone unthanked because it does not attempt to answer the question asked by the OP.
I think it is reasonable to assume that the OP's employer is correctly taxing their employee, and we are then left with the question that the OP actually asked.
If the OP's employer hasn't taxed them correctly, it has no bearing on the OP's own company ability to reimburse them for business miles.
It's not an unreasonable assumption. And if the employer is indeed applying PAYE to the mileage payments all is fine and dandy on that point.
However, in answering the question
"What if anything should I claim as expenses for business trips?"
you have imputed the words "from my company". That may well be what the OP means, but he could just as easily be referring to a claim on his tax return.
So, the reason that I made no attempt to answer the question is I don't know what the question is.
Plus, you are again talking about what can be paid. You do not comment on the tax. I have interpreted the OP the same way as you (although it's really not clear, and I'm guessing too).
I would not presume to comment on the tax without knowing many facts that are not provided. Any comment without those extra facts would IMHO be pointless. If the OP is simply asking what can be paid, your comment is right - whatever s/he likes.
If s/he wants to know more, the advice to talk with an accountant stands.
So - you had a question that has nothing to do with tax and nothing to do with accounts. But felt it necessary to ask some unknown accountants how much you can pay yourself from your own company? Why would you think that HMRC rates have the slightest thing to do with anything?
Be aware then that my responses were based on the wrong assumptions and should not be taken as including legal advice. You may have spotted some other threads that would suggest the answer might be different in different circumstances.
And this is why we don't answer freeloader questions.
What a load of garbage, around 20 posts and no-one even knows what the question was never mind the answer.
Howling!