Mileage Claim and Temporary Place of Work

[The Beaver King]

Just a quick question for a friend, I'll give as much info as possible.

My friend has recently (circa 4 months) started working for a recruitment agency. When he started the job, he was based in the Birmingham area and using his own car for commuting and visiting clients.

Last month his company asked him if he could work out of the Bristol branch for a few months to help cover and drive through some new leads. After a few days, one of the recruiters he worked with in Bristol quit, so the company told him to use her company car for the duration. He pays for all fuel and then claims the mileage back on expenses at the end of each month. His daily journey is from Birmingham to Bristol and back, plus any client visits during the day.

Now he has been told that he can only claim back 13p per mile, which seems low to me. Obviously he is not using his own car (so no wear and tear cost), but I was under the impression he would still get circa 25p per mile (I could be wrong).

On top of that, his company have told him that he can't claim back his extra mileage from the tax man as even though he was employed and based in Birmingham, Bristol wouldn't be classed as a temporary place of work. Something to do with not having an official desk in Birmingham and the fact he leaves straight from home to Bristol and back again.

I was under the impression that unless your contract names somewhere as your place of work or you've worked there for more than two years, it is classed as temporary?

So to recap:

• Took job and worked in Brimingham
• Asked to work short-term in Bristol
• Given a company car temporarily
• Pays all fuel and then claims back business at 13p per mile
• Been told he can't claim the tax back from HMRC as his short-term office is not classed as a temporary place of work.

All of my assumptions could be wrong, as I only have experience with company cars/fuel cards and personal use of vehicle.

Cheers

[Slurms]

Because it's a company car and not his own car it gets complicated.

The normal 45p/25p rate doesn't apply - there are some advisory rates that the company may pay which are on the HMRC website but these are based on engine size and mpg.

[elanfan]

You'll find on HMRC website the recommended fuel figures - it is based on engine size and whether diesel or not. The figures get adjusted from time to time.

When I had a company car the rates were so low that you were supplementing the company paid for fuel out of your own pocket for some of the time - other times you made a small profit. Your friend could probably create some extra miles in the day to make up any shortfall but it is a pain accounting for each and every mile.

Your mate is doing his company a big favour and they should not be taking the pee - if he finds that they are not being co-operative with the fuel expenses he should tell them to find someone else to the job - whilst this could cause some friction some managers will actually appreciate you having the backbone to say no more.