40p a mile for company business use; is it fair?

[bill bob]

When petrol was 55p a litre I was getting 40p a mile expenses to use my car on company business. Guess what I'm getting now!!
Yes it's still 40p. How can that be fair?
Is anyone getting any more?
I'm told that's the maximum you can be paid without being clobbered for income tax.
It seems this government want the penny, the bun and the oven it was made in.

Bill Bob

[uuf361]

Yep, that's the government (HMRC) rate and it has remained unchanged for some time.

The fuel only element, which a lot of companies use to reimburse is adjusted twice a year.

[Sammo123]

If I use my car for work then I get 12p per mile! I would be well chuffed with 40p!

[MattyB_]

Yep, still the same here to. I'm on "Essential" so I get £90/month and 35p a mile I think. Same as when petrol was 90p/litre.

However, a while back we were told that being paid petrol expenses was a "perk" and not a reimbursement (!) and we've had our tax code altered because of it. So now I get taxed three times. On my income, on the petrol itself, and then on the reimbursement I get paid. Absolute joke.

We argued the toss at work when petrol went up last time, but baisically got told "tough titty" by the boss...doubt it'll be any different this time around.

[crofty1984]

MattyB_ said:

Yep, still the same here to. I'm on "Essential" so I get £90/month and 35p a mile I think. Same as when petrol was 90p/litre.

However, a while back we were told that being paid petrol expenses was a "perk" and not a reimbursement (!) and we've had our tax code altered because of it. So now I get taxed three times. On my income, on the petrol itself, and then on the reimbursement I get paid. Absolute joke.

We argued the toss at work when petrol went up last time, but baisically got told "tough titty" by the boss...doubt it'll be any different this time around.

And the VAT on the tax and the petrol. Sorry.

[Fleckers]

I get 40 ppm in my car or if using the company hack its 10 ppm

[K87]

30mpg still only works out to about 18p a mile so how can you complain at 40p a mile!

[ex vtskid]

K87 said:

30mpg still only works out to about 18p a mile so how can you complain at 40p a mile!

That counts for all the cars costs not just fuel

[Deva Link]

It's not long ago the Government was talking about doing away with the 40p rate and making it 25p across the board. You've got NHS workers to thank for getting that idea knocked on the head.

[Robert060379]

I only get 25p a mile after the first 30 who do you work for and where do I apply?

[mike.williams]

Sammo123 said:

If I use my car for work then I get 12p per mile! I would be well chuffed with 40p!

Well next time you do a Self Assessment you should point it out, as you can claim the difference in tax relief.... (or you used to when I was still in the RAF...)

[spaceship]

K87 said:

30mpg still only works out to about 18p a mile so how can you complain at 40p a mile!

I agree.

Gf gets 40ppm for using own car. I think it's quite fair, as does she.

When you work it out (roughly) - she does only town driving in her little car, so say she gets 30mpg. That's just over 6mpl(miles per litre). Fuel is approx 120p per litre, so if she does 6 miles she'll get 240p. More than pays for her fuel.

[Deva Link]

spaceship said:

K87 said:

30mpg still only works out to about 18p a mile so how can you complain at 40p a mile!

I agree.

Gf gets 40ppm for using own car. I think it's quite fair, as does she.

When you work it out (roughly) - she does only town driving in her little car, so say she gets 30mpg. That's just over 6mpl(miles per litre). Fuel is approx 120p per litre, so if she does 6 miles she'll get 240p. More than pays for her fuel.

It's money in your back pocket if you're just doing a few miles and it doesn't cause the car to need servicing etc more frequently than once a year.

But it's a different kettle of fish if you're doing several thousand business miles per year.

[spaceship]

Deva Link said:

spaceship said:

K87 said:

30mpg still only works out to about 18p a mile so how can you complain at 40p a mile!

I agree.

Gf gets 40ppm for using own car. I think it's quite fair, as does she.

When you work it out (roughly) - she does only town driving in her little car, so say she gets 30mpg. That's just over 6mpl(miles per litre). Fuel is approx 120p per litre, so if she does 6 miles she'll get 240p. More than pays for her fuel.

It's money in your back pocket if you're just doing a few miles and it doesn't cause the car to need servicing etc more frequently than once a year.

But it's a different kettle of fish if you're doing several thousand business miles per year.

That was the thing I missed out - wear and tear on the car. OP didn't mention mileage though. Only other thing I would say is that if it's motorway miles and it isn't a guzzler of fuel, then mpg would be even better. Therefore you'd get even more money back per mile.

[K87]

Well lets take a fairly generous assumption that a mile costs 20p in fuel. Do you really spend as much on your car for servicing and repair as you do on fuel? I know I certainly didnt and that was doing 100+ miles a day.

[S. Gonzales Esq.]

Depreciation? That's one significant cost that a lot of people don't really think about.

[oniznorb]

K87 said:

Well lets take a fairly generous assumption that a mile costs 20p in fuel. Do you really spend as much on your car for servicing and repair as you do on fuel? I know I certainly didnt and that was doing 100+ miles a day.

There is a lot more to take into account
Per mile, my costs ( excluding fuel ) are roughly

Tyres 2p
Servicing 2.5p
Insurance 2p
Depreciation 15p
Finance/lost interest 3p

Total cost per mile including fuel is 38p ( 40mpg @ £1.20 )

[K87]

oniznorb said:

K87 said:

Well lets take a fairly generous assumption that a mile costs 20p in fuel. Do you really spend as much on your car for servicing and repair as you do on fuel? I know I certainly didnt and that was doing 100+ miles a day.

There is a lot more to take into account
Per mile, my costs ( excluding fuel ) are roughly

Tyres 2p
Servicing 2.5p
Insurance 2p
Depreciation 15p
Finance/lost interest 3p

Total cost per mile including fuel is 38p ( 40mpg @ £1.20 )

So whats the problem then? Or are you all just miffed that you're no longer making a cheeky few pence a mile no more now the price of fuel is going up.

The majority of your cost is depreciation then? So why use a new car for mile munching? Get a barge thats already depreciated.

[Tallbut Buxomly]

I do 50-60k a year.
My car is at bottom of depreciation and owned outright. It goes through 2-3 full sets of tyres per year at 360per set.A set of pads every 30k at 50-60quid and disks every 60k or so at 150 quid iirc. Needs a 2-300 quid service every 16-20k miles. A new windscreen every year 60 quid.
ins is around 450 per year fully comp.

Technically i could claim around 16k per year back according to government rates at 40ppmile for first 10k and 22-25 cant remember for every mile thereafter but not allowed to.

If you work it all out versus what i am allowed to claim back it costs lot more to run my car than i get back.

[eliot]

mike.williams said:

Sammo123 said:

If I use my car for work then I get 12p per mile! I would be well chuffed with 40p!

Well next time you do a Self Assessment you should point it out, as you can claim the difference in tax relief.... (or you used to when I was still in the RAF...)

This is still the case. My company only pays 33p - and the VXR8 likes a little tottle...