TAX - Milage, Income Tax etc

[stevieb]

Hi

I just wondered if anyone can clarify how i go about completing a back dated tax claim.

I have been sorting through old payslips, business travel expenses, etc nad i think i have paid to much in tax as for a good chunk of the period i am questioning is when i finished my degree and did not work for 6 months and didnt bother to reclaim the overpaid tax at the time.

thanks

[Eric Mc]

Telephone your current tax office (the reference should be on a payslip or the P60 you will be getting in a month's time from your current employer). Explain the situation to them. They may amend your tax immediately based on the details given to them in the phone call or they may send you a Tax Reclaim form for the relevant tax year. They may even send you a Self Assessment tax return for completion but they are trying not to sort matters out through Self Assessment wherever possible.

Make sure you know EXACTLY why you think you overpaid tax in the first case.

[stevieb]

Eric Mc said:

Telephone your current tax office (the reference should be on a payslip or the P60 you will be getting in a month's time from your current employer). Explain the situation to them. They may amend your tax immediately based on the details given to them in the phone call or they may send you a Tax Reclaim form for the relevant tax year. They may even send you a Self Assessment tax return for completion but they are trying not to sort matters out through Self Assessment wherever possible. Make sure you know EXACTLY why you think you overpaid tax in the first case.

Eric,

A Big one for me is milage from 3 years ago, i was paid a rate of 15pence per mile through the company, but until recently i did not know that you could have claimed the difference back from the Tax office. this only equates to less than £2000 including everything and i do have all documents etc to hand for them to inspect so it should make life easier that i kept all of my records.

Is it true that i can back date a milage claim

Thanks

[Eric Mc]

Yes.

Don't forget, you can claim back the 25p per mile you didn't get from your employer but only in the form of tax relief at your highest tax rate in the relevant year.

So, at 2000 miles, you can claim £500 (2,000 at 25p per mile) at 22p in the pound tax relief i.e £110.00. If you were a higher rate tax payer in the year your tax reclaim would be £200.00.

[Piglet]

Eric can I crash this thread and ask you a related question??

I'm going to be working as a volunteer for an organisation, they won't be paying me any salary etc. but they are covering my hotel expenses (directly) and paying me 15p per mile mileage. Can I also claim the extra 25p on my tax return even though they are not my employer?

Cheers

[Eric Mc]

If you are not employed, are you self employed regarding this source of income?

You are either one or the other (usually). There may be some additional expenses claimable for so called voluntary workers which you might be able to claim under.

Is the organisation you are claiming for a registered charity and is it involved in charitable work?

[Piglet]

Cheers Eric. It's a Motor Racing Club that I work for and they are not a registered charity.

I don't regard myself as being either employed or self employed because they don't actually pay me anything. I wondered about declaring it on my self assessment as self employment but assumed that I couldn't do this as I don't actually get paid anything? I'd just quite like to be able to claim back the "rest" of the mileage limit in some way if I can.

I do work for another race club who do actually pay me for the work I do - although they do that though PAYE and pay the full 40p mileage amount.

[Eric Mc]

I would hazard a guess that you cannot claim the difference in this case - as you are not Self Employed or Employed as far as this activity is concerned. The actual amounts you receive covers the specific costs incurred by you in your duties so you are, in reality, tax neutral.

My hunch is that you should REALLY be treated as an employee of the orgnaistation who only receives expenses. If you were a bona fide employee, you COULD claim the difference.

[Piglet]

Thanks Eric. I think I'll have a chat with them about whether they can find a work around for this as you suggest. It would be nice to actually claim something back from the tax man now and again!

[stevieb]

Eric,

Ok thats clear that one up, but what about trips that i did not put through my employer as i was made redundent before they went through the expenses procedure...

Would they be treated the same?

Thanks

steve

[Eric Mc]

Yes.

If the espense was incurred "wholly, exclusively and NECESSARILLY" in the course of that employment, you have a legitimate claim. However, you may be asked to prove that these trips did occur and were part of your "job" at the time. However, if you don't make the claim, you won't get anything.