Mileage Rates - What should I charge my clients?
Discussion
Not the usual question about HMRC rates.
I started charging my clients 38p per mile about ten years ago, simply because that was the "market rate". It was just for driving to occasional meetings etc. I have lost touch with the market rate but clearly I am considerably undercharging. Are there any published or recommended rates?
Thanks in advance.
pp
I started charging my clients 38p per mile about ten years ago, simply because that was the "market rate". It was just for driving to occasional meetings etc. I have lost touch with the market rate but clearly I am considerably undercharging. Are there any published or recommended rates?
Thanks in advance.
pp
Pickled Piper said:
Hi Eric,
Yes I do quote the mileage separately. I am looking for a market rate that I can charge with some justification behind it.
pp
My suggestion is don't.Yes I do quote the mileage separately. I am looking for a market rate that I can charge with some justification behind it.
pp
I don't think that businesses need to quote things like that in their invoices to their customers. It is actually the sign of someone who still thinks of themselves as a kind of employee. I would get out of the habit of quoting mileage separately and just bill your customers based on what you think is an economic quote for the job you are doing for them.
Why aren't you quoting separately for the other overheads your business incurs?
3 situations
1) I used to deal with an automation company and they had a call out charge of £300 a day plus £1.30 a mile, plus accommodation at cost plus £30 a night which effectively made it £600 for one day, £1000 for 2 days, £1400 for 3 days. They paid the Technician 40p a mile if he used his own car, and £15 nights away allowance.
I would have preferred a straight but higher daily rate.
2) My current client, who is based some 110 miles away pays me an hourly rate. Getting there is my problem. As is finding and paying for b&b (or a tent if I prefer) My ltd company pays me the HMRC rate of 45p a mile, plus cost of accommodation. If the hourly rate were too low, I would not take the job, which sort of implies that I'd work for less if it were closer (but I probably wouldn't, on principle)
3) If the client wants me to visit one of his suppliers, or a sister plant, he will pay my expences at 45p a mile, which is the same as he would pay his employees, except that they are forced to use a pool car over 25 miles, and I am not allowed near thier pool cars
1) I used to deal with an automation company and they had a call out charge of £300 a day plus £1.30 a mile, plus accommodation at cost plus £30 a night which effectively made it £600 for one day, £1000 for 2 days, £1400 for 3 days. They paid the Technician 40p a mile if he used his own car, and £15 nights away allowance.
I would have preferred a straight but higher daily rate.
2) My current client, who is based some 110 miles away pays me an hourly rate. Getting there is my problem. As is finding and paying for b&b (or a tent if I prefer) My ltd company pays me the HMRC rate of 45p a mile, plus cost of accommodation. If the hourly rate were too low, I would not take the job, which sort of implies that I'd work for less if it were closer (but I probably wouldn't, on principle)
3) If the client wants me to visit one of his suppliers, or a sister plant, he will pay my expences at 45p a mile, which is the same as he would pay his employees, except that they are forced to use a pool car over 25 miles, and I am not allowed near thier pool cars
Eric Mc said:
The HMRC rates mean absolutely nothing in reality.
Well, they mean that if your employee has a cheap nasty old car, which is very reliable, very economical, zero depreciation, cheap long lasting tyres etc and you pay it as your mileage rate, they could make about £3000 tax free, for the first £10K and then about 10p a mile thereafter. I know a number of managers in big companies who turned a blind eye to their own rules (e,g. if the business travel is more than 60 miles then you have to hire a car etc) because it meant staff could afford to eat. I once back (in 1993) put £2000 in expenses into the bank in 8 weeks, after deciding to travel daily in my own car to a sister company rather than stay in a hotel and use the pool car. (Lucas Industries PlC RIP)
This thread is nothing to do with paying employees. My answer is in the context of how much a sole trading business or trading limited copmpany should charge its customers to cover the business motoring costs.
AS I have stated previously, if a business feels that the true cost of its motoring is £1.00 a mile, then that is what it can recharge its customers. However, I have also stated that there is no obligation to quote these figures on sales invoices issued to one's customers. And even if you are REALLY charging £1.00 a mile, youi can still go ahead and quote anything you like on the sales invoice, if you really feel you have to quote Mileage Rates.
AS I have stated previously, if a business feels that the true cost of its motoring is £1.00 a mile, then that is what it can recharge its customers. However, I have also stated that there is no obligation to quote these figures on sales invoices issued to one's customers. And even if you are REALLY charging £1.00 a mile, youi can still go ahead and quote anything you like on the sales invoice, if you really feel you have to quote Mileage Rates.
t bingo" talk - but essentially, he was correct.Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff