Milage

[unitmole]

In a hypothetical situation how far do you have to travel to be able to claim milage?

And is it fair for home based diggers to be constantly employed on a site by site basis with the site being put as the contracted place of work?

Is there a way for companies to claim milage back against tax from the government - am confused how some units give out 37.5p a mile but some still give nothing to diggers who are expected to travel almost a hundred miles a day?

[voice of reason]

Distance has nothing to do with it. Key is where is your contractual place of work - it is very certainly and firmly against HMRC rules to pay people to travel between their home and normal place of work.

I think for simplicity for many archaeological companies the designated place of work is usually the hq, with corporate transport (van, minibus or four-wheel drive or the like)transport provided from there to their various sites, with mileage expenses then paid to people if they are asked and agree to use their own vehicle for work purposes. If you choose to live at distance from the corporate centre or choose not to travel to the central place where transport is provided from you can't expect them to fork out for you to get there as well.

For 'away' work (ie where you have to stay away), again transport is usually provided on same basis - if you then choose to take your own vehicle as a supplementary for your own convenience, that is your choice but you can't expect to be paid expenses for that.

Finally, if you do work-related driving in your own vehicle (eg going on site visits, watching briefs, SMR visits or the like), then you should be getting mileage expenses. The level of mileage paid per mile is agreed with HMRC and capped at a level whher it is not considered 'profitable' by HMRC and hence not taxable for the employee. There is no scheme for employers to claim mileage back against tax.

Hope that explains a bit

[garybrun]

What about your insurance... "not to be used for hire or reward..." clause??

Website for responsible Metal Detecting
http://www.ukdfd.co.uk
Recording Our Heritage For Future Generations.

[voice of reason]

it is also not considered hire or reward, under the same terms as HMRC see it as purely expenses without a 'profit' element.

you have to have business use added to your insurance. No extra cost usually, (depending on your business though).

[Oxbeast]

It does sound pretty duff for a hypothetical company to use a site as your permanent place of work, unit mole.

Wouldn't you then have the situation where permanent staff are paid milage to travel out from the office, but temporary staff who live nearby are not?

[kevin wooldridge]

quote:Originally posted by voice of reason

Distance has nothing to do with it. Key is where is your contractual place of work - it is very certainly and firmly against HMRC rules to pay people to travel between their home and normal place of work.

I believe that VoR is right with regard to nearly all circumstances regarding HMRC regulations relating to travel between home and work, except..... there are HMRC regulations regarding travel allowances, where your place of work is a 'temporary' site such as a building site (or archaeological excavation).

I won't go into the precise rule here, because in my experience different tax offices 'interpret' temporary places of work in different ways, but I have been told in the past that if a site exists for less than 24 months, it can be considered as temporary.

Anyway the general gist of the regulation is that you can claim the cost of your fares between home and a 'temporary' workplace against tax. Employers that 'contract' you, to a temporary workplace and do not recompense your cost of travel, would seem to fit their staff exactly within the definition of this little known, but potentially valuable, HMRC regulation.

Members of the trade union 'Prospect' could take advantage of the free tax-advice service the union offers, to find out if they qualify for this benefit.

[drpeterwardle]

In terms of HMRC I suggest that people read their webs pages not the potted versions here.

A few facts as self employed you can claim 40p a mile for work travel (or?45p if two people are in a car) or the actual running costs upto 10000 miles per year.

Travel costs are a legitimate business expense for any business and therefore form part of the profit/loss they are not offset against tax as such.

For an employee the situation is explained as http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/mileage/employee-factsheet.htm

In short you can be paid upto 40p per mile without paying tax on the amount. Work journeys are closely defined.

For site work of less than 2 years duration see http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/helpsheets/490-chapter3.pdf

A workplace is a place where the employee’s attendance is necessary for the performance of the duties of that employment.
3.3 So, in general, there is no relief for the cost of travel between an employee’s permanent.

"A period of attendance at a place is not regarded as of limited duration or for a temporary purpose if it is all or almost all of the period for which the employee is likely to hold, or continue to hold, the employment. Example Everton is taken on for a fixed term employment of 18 months to work at a particular site. No relief is available for the cost of travel to and from the site during
that period."

I note that these are rules on tax not on what the employer should pay. So I am not obliged to pay 40p a mile just because this is the revenue maximum. Similarly I am not obliged to pay UKP 175 a head for a Christmas party. An employer can choose to pay to travel expenses which are outside of the revenue rules but that is a benefit in kind and the employee is liable to pay tax on the value (40p per mile?) and the employer NIC

The same is true of subsistence payment which are taxable
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/helpsheets/490-chapter9.pdf although the employee can claim tax relief on actual expenses.