Company mileage query

[tim12345]

Im based at home 99.9% of the time - I (once a month) if that have to go into the office (60miles away) for which im not paid the mileage for. If I go anywhere else mileage is paid from the office to site rather than from my home office to site. the company say:-

Due to HMRC rules, mileage claims should only be for the distance between the office and your appointment or your home and the appointment, whichever is the shorter. This is in order to eliminate the distance you would have travelled to the office normally which is not considered business mileage.

Do HMRC actually say this? - should I just make the difference up by putting ga claim into hmrc? - any other thoughts?

[scottfraser100]

I don't think that those are HMRC rules at all. Much more like your company's policy.

[_dobbo_]

Whether they actually are HMRC rules I don't know, but we have the same rules and the same reason is given.

[xjay1337]

Have you looked on HMRC's website?

I would have thought if your contract has your working location as home you are to expense your odd drive into the office and also that any expenses should be from your home to the destination, not the office.

I believed the idea behind it was to stop people claiming mileage on the daily drive to the office which shouldn't happen but happens........

[Drumroll]

I have an office and if as you say I go from my home to my office then I can't claim the mileage. But if I leave my house and go to a site, client, another office,etc. then the mileage claim is from my home to wherever I am going. Even though on occasions I may go near my office. If I call into my office and then go to a site then the claim is from my office. We use a fuelcard company to vet all our claims and home is a default option, so I don't think your company are correct in there interpretation.

[HantsRat]

Fairly standard practice anywhere. If I need to travel for work reasons from my home, I put the claim in but deduct the miles it would take to travel to the office normally.

[PurpleMoonlight]

It certainly was HMRC policy and I remember it being introduced. I don't recall it being changed.

However, if your primary place of work is home and you claim expense to go to the company office once a month I would have thought you should be able to claim the full mileage from home to client without issue with HMRC.

[andburg]

PurpleMoonlight said:

It certainly was HMRC policy and I remember it being introduced. I don't recall it being changed.

However, if your primary place of work is home and you claim expense to go to the company office once a month I would have thought you should be able to claim the full mileage from home to client without issue with HMRC.

^^this

When going to another location other than your primary place of work, mileage is claimable. If going directly from home you would deduct your standard daily commute from this mileage. You work from home, your standard commute is 0 miles.

You should be claiming for all trips, including the regular trips to the office.

[Drumroll]

So if your office is north of your home, but you are travelling south you still have to deduct your office mileage?

[andburg]

Drumroll said:

So if your office is north of your home, but you are travelling south you still have to deduct your office mileage?

Matters not

If you weren't going to Location A you'd still be going to your primary location so that mileage in any direction is deemed personal travel. It only becomes claimable once you have travelled the distance of your standard commute.

[General Fluff]

PurpleMoonlight said:

It certainly was HMRC policy and I remember it being introduced. I don't recall it being changed.

However, if your primary place of work is home and you claim expense to go to the company office once a month I would have thought you should be able to claim the full mileage from home to client without issue with HMRC.

I looked this up several years back and recall that mileage should be recorded from home for business trips. There was a good HMRC example at the time and they said that even if you have to pop into the office on the way to collect files, the whole trip can be claimed.

Of course, your employer isn't obliged to go along with HMRC rules, plus in typical PH fashion, we now have several conflicting answers so OP needs to do some research.

As far as HMRC goes, I would argue that home is the normal place of work in this instance and therefore relief can be claimed on trips to the office, as well as business trips elsewhere. Also, if the employer pays less than 45p per mile, relief can be claimed on the difference.

[xjay1337]

andburg said:

Matters not

If you weren't going to Location A you'd still be going to your primary location so that mileage in any direction is deemed personal travel. It only becomes claimable once you have travelled the distance of your standard commute.

I've never had that.
My office is 50 miles away from home and I work from the office twice a week (home for 3).

I pay for my own standard travel and my contract states my working location is the office.
If I had to pay for the first 50 miles of any COMPANY MILEAGE - Which it is going to a customer site - I would not be happy.

For the last 4 years I've had a car allowance and you claim mileage based on where you are traveling from and to.

[Dodsy]

If you work from home that much then maybe ask if they can change your terms ? I have been home based for 11 years now, my employment contract states this therefore any time I get in the car even if its to go to the main company office I can claim mileage.

I probably go to the main office once a month, mostly I am either at home or at a customer site.

[Drumroll]

That doesn't stack up, if your office is north and you are going south how can "x" number of miles be deducted. you are going nowhere near your office.

[Sheepshanks]

Drumroll said:

I have an office and if as you say I go from my home to my office then I can't claim the mileage. But if I leave my house and go to a site, client, another office,etc. then the mileage claim is from my home to wherever I am going. Even though on occasions I may go near my office. If I call into my office and then go to a site then the claim is from my office.

You can claim (for tax purposes) the whole distance if your visit to the office is incidental to the journey - ie you call in to pick up docs etc.


Weirdly, the rules for HMRC as an employer are as the OP described, but tax-payers can claim the whole distance. My missus used to work there and most visits she made were nearer home than the office, so she could rarely claim. But she could claim a tax-rebate, although she never bothered.

[tankplanker]

Dodsy said:

If you work from home that much then maybe ask if they can change your terms ? I have been home based for 11 years now, my employment contract states this therefore any time I get in the car even if its to go to the main company office I can claim mileage.

I probably go to the main office once a month, mostly I am either at home or at a customer site.

Agreed. If your contract states you work in a particular office then you get the distance travelled minus your commute to that office. You have to be declared a home worker in order to get the mileage for the full amount of distance travelled. Most companies do not like declaring people as a home worker as it affects expenses and they become liable for the gear in your office at home as they are on the hook for H&S.

My Wife recently had a new desk, chair, monitor, docking station, keyboard, etc. all free from the company as she works from home 90% of the time and had her work location changed to home.

[andburg]

Drumroll said:

That doesn't stack up, if your office is north and you are going south how can "x" number of miles be deducted. you are going nowhere near your office.

Ok...

Bill drives to work and back every day 10 miles each way so his personal commute is 20 miles. As this is personal bill cannot claim any relief on this cost.

Monday is normal - 20 miles
Tuesday is normal - 20 miles

Wednesday morning Bill drives to another office 10 miles from home in the opposite direction for the day, works there and drives back home. Bill still only drives 20 miles so nothing to claim, Bill was doing this anyway he is not losing out.

Thursday, Bill drives to his regular place of work, then has to go back to the other office so he covers 10 miles to the office then 20 miles to the second office and a further 10 home - 40 miles so Bill can claim for the 20 additional miles he was required to complete for work.

Friday, Bill works from home - 0 miles Bill has no travel expenses so is a little better off for not using the car.

[General Fluff]

andburg said:

Ok...

Bill drives to work and back every day 10 miles each way so his personal commute is 20 miles. As this is personal bill cannot claim any relief on this cost.

Monday is normal - 20 miles
Tuesday is normal - 20 miles

Wednesday morning Bill drives to another office 10 miles from home in the opposite direction for the day, works there and drives back home. Bill still only drives 20 miles so nothing to claim, Bill was doing this anyway he is not losing out.

Thursday, Bill drives to his regular place of work, then has to go back to the other office so he covers 10 miles to the office then 20 miles to the second office and a further 10 home - 40 miles so Bill can claim for the 20 additional miles he was required to complete for work.

Friday, Bill works from home - 0 miles Bill has no travel expenses so is a little better off for not using the car.

You can see why an employer may see it this way but HMRC don't as I understand it.

[andburg]

That was how HMRC explained it to me before I took a company vehicle but that was about 4 years ago now so maybe their guidelines have changed

[Prizam]

General Fluff said:

andburg said:

Ok...

Bill drives to work and back every day 10 miles each way so his personal commute is 20 miles. As this is personal bill cannot claim any relief on this cost.

Monday is normal - 20 miles
Tuesday is normal - 20 miles

Wednesday morning Bill drives to another office 10 miles from home in the opposite direction for the day, works there and drives back home. Bill still only drives 20 miles so nothing to claim, Bill was doing this anyway he is not losing out.

Thursday, Bill drives to his regular place of work, then has to go back to the other office so he covers 10 miles to the office then 20 miles to the second office and a further 10 home - 40 miles so Bill can claim for the 20 additional miles he was required to complete for work.

Friday, Bill works from home - 0 miles Bill has no travel expenses so is a little better off for not using the car.

You can see why an employer may see it this way but HMRC don't as I understand it.

Unfortunately, they do. I am in exactly the same predicament. Same rules.