Employer Deducting Commuting Mileage from Business Travel
Discussion
Anyone have any experience of this, the HMRC guidance is not definitive as far as I can see...
example: Employee A lives 80 miles from their office, Employee B lives 10 miles in the opposite direction, so 90 miles from Employee A
Meeting is being held at a off site location which is 20 miles in the opposite of travel to work for Employee A and 110 miles for employee B with the first and last 10 miles being past the office.
Travel policy states; only mileage additional to commuting mileage from home to the primary work location (named in the contract of employment or in a subsequent relocation notification) can be claimed:
Employee A claims nothing
Employee B claims 200 miles
Now this would have all been logical before covid, however Employee A is working 80% from home and they and the employer are happy for them to do so, Employee B is 40% home based.
Given this clearly creates a dual work locations (even if an informal arrangement) in HMRC eyes for both employees.
Employee A now wants to claim 40 miles as commuting can be 0 or 160 miles in a day and employee B wants to claim the full 220 miles on the same principle.
Any thoughts?
My view is that they can claim the tax relief via self assessment, on the whole mileage for employee A and the unclaimed 20 miles for employee B and the company travel policy is maintained.
example: Employee A lives 80 miles from their office, Employee B lives 10 miles in the opposite direction, so 90 miles from Employee A
Meeting is being held at a off site location which is 20 miles in the opposite of travel to work for Employee A and 110 miles for employee B with the first and last 10 miles being past the office.
Travel policy states; only mileage additional to commuting mileage from home to the primary work location (named in the contract of employment or in a subsequent relocation notification) can be claimed:
Employee A claims nothing
Employee B claims 200 miles
Now this would have all been logical before covid, however Employee A is working 80% from home and they and the employer are happy for them to do so, Employee B is 40% home based.
Given this clearly creates a dual work locations (even if an informal arrangement) in HMRC eyes for both employees.
Employee A now wants to claim 40 miles as commuting can be 0 or 160 miles in a day and employee B wants to claim the full 220 miles on the same principle.
Any thoughts?
My view is that they can claim the tax relief via self assessment, on the whole mileage for employee A and the unclaimed 20 miles for employee B and the company travel policy is maintained.
Edited by TWODs on Wednesday 3rd April 14:39
OK employee A previously would have only been able to claim for business travel unless it was in excess of 80 miles each way, now they want to claim for any mileage that is not specifically to the contractually named office. As they say by allowing them to regularly work from home, even on an informal basis we have created a dual work location and so their commute on a business travel day could have been 0 miles and this would not be charged as a taxable benefit by HMRC.
The travel policy is inflexible as it is the parent companies, and my view as the employer is, I agree, the 80miles would not be classed as a taxable benefit (even before they worked a lot from from home), and they could claim the tax relief on the mileage via self-assessment, but that doesn't change the company travel policy.
So as they earn well in to 6 figures, they'd get relief at 55% of the 45p rate for the business travel mileage incurred between 0 & 80 miles.
The other employee is ineffect in exactly the same position, but they essentially get to claim for nearly all business travel in full already due to proximity to the office, however they could also claim for the tax relief for the small additional mileage if they can be bothered.
By the way I agree it is as stingy as you can get, but it's not something I get a say on.
The travel policy is inflexible as it is the parent companies, and my view as the employer is, I agree, the 80miles would not be classed as a taxable benefit (even before they worked a lot from from home), and they could claim the tax relief on the mileage via self-assessment, but that doesn't change the company travel policy.
So as they earn well in to 6 figures, they'd get relief at 55% of the 45p rate for the business travel mileage incurred between 0 & 80 miles.
The other employee is ineffect in exactly the same position, but they essentially get to claim for nearly all business travel in full already due to proximity to the office, however they could also claim for the tax relief for the small additional mileage if they can be bothered.
By the way I agree it is as stingy as you can get, but it's not something I get a say on.
PistonBroker said:
DickP said:
Deducting commuting mileage from business travel is poor form in my opinion and in my sector suggests penny pinching of the employer.
I mean, maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I'm my own boss and I use the office postcode as my start and end point when doing my mileage expenses. pghstochaj said:
Are the costs being passed onto a client? It is a little awkward to claim mileage to a site from home when you pass the office on the way.
Not that kind of employee! (or organisation). They are effectively trying to wangle it so they can claim any mileage from home for business travel and given they live in the arse end of no where would be a bit (but minimal in relation to their total income), this I have a bit of sympathy for, however I know if we shift on this, they'll be straight on to home to office commuting costs (given how much they work from home) and I can't set a precedent for one reasonably senior employee as it will mushroom for the whole workforce.StevieBee said:
Have the employment contracts been amended and agreed to accommodate the dual working locations post Covid?
No, but the the flexible working policy has, however only to restate that the contractual permanent place of work is as originally defined in the contract or subsequent relocation notification, and you'll be required to attend this office as normal commuting as required, beyond that you are able to work from home for any balance as long as it remains productive to do so and business travel can not be claimed for travel to the permanent place of work.Countdown said:
TWODs said:
Employee A now wants to claim 40 miles as commuting can be 0 or 160 miles in a day and employee B wants to claim the full 220 miles on the same principle.
I'm fairly sure that ^^^ is correct. As they are mainly working from home HMRC would regard them as having two temporary workplaces therefore they're entitled to claim mileage starting from home.Ok clearly worms are spilling out here.... in regards to home working and the HMRC guidance posted previously, I think 3.37 trumps 3.49 and pretty much in conflict in my scenario.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ordinary-commuting-and...
So 3.37 says
"We will not accept that working at home is an objective requirement of the job if the employer provides appropriate facilities in another location that could be practically used by the employee, or the employee works from home as a matter of choice."
In the informal flexible arrangement, under Covid they were forced to work to work from home, however now that is most definitely a personal choice, even if the capacity at the office could not now accommodate all employees in attendance given the changes made since Covid to reduce office space.
3.49 says
"Where the employee does not stop at the permanent workplace, or any stop is incidental to the business journey, all of the journey is business travel."
but this would only apply if the working from home element was deemed not to be by employee choice, which in my orgs scenrio is debatable and a grey area we would need to be clearer on.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ordinary-commuting-and...
So 3.37 says
"We will not accept that working at home is an objective requirement of the job if the employer provides appropriate facilities in another location that could be practically used by the employee, or the employee works from home as a matter of choice."
In the informal flexible arrangement, under Covid they were forced to work to work from home, however now that is most definitely a personal choice, even if the capacity at the office could not now accommodate all employees in attendance given the changes made since Covid to reduce office space.
3.49 says
"Where the employee does not stop at the permanent workplace, or any stop is incidental to the business journey, all of the journey is business travel."
but this would only apply if the working from home element was deemed not to be by employee choice, which in my orgs scenrio is debatable and a grey area we would need to be clearer on.
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