Reclaiming Expenses advice please.

by **JB89** on Sun Jan 29, 2012 8:29 pm

Hello all,

I have a slight problem and would really appreciate some advice. I am a Community Care Support Worker. Naturally I do a fair few miles between clients homes, I’m averaging 400 miles a week. My Employers pay my PAYE and NI (Well out of my wages as usual) however they do not pay any expenses, such as the fuel. This amounts to a lot of money out of my wages each month as I’m sure you can imagine.

I have been asking around and have got conflicting advice. Some say that as it’s my first tax year working in this industry I will get a refund for my milage at the rate of £0.45 for the first 10,000 miles and £0.25 thereafter and I can also reclaim for part of my Mobile Phone bill (as I’m using it constantly for work) as well as shoes/trousers which I purchase myself. Others say I will get nothing this year but my tax code will be altered for next year so that I will pay less tax each month totalling the equivalent of my fuel expenses, and that I might get a rebate at the end of the tax year if my milage was higher than the previous, but for the first year I will get nothing which is a lot of money to just loose, and in fact calculated in puts me well below minimum wage – and would make me rethink my career choice.

The former opinion suggests I do a self assessment, I tried to do this online and was asked for Unique Tax Reference (UTR), however I’m led to believe you only get this if you are self employed?

Could somebody please clarify what I’m entitled to and how I go about reclaiming this money as I have been driving myself mad for weeks trying to find accurate information?

Many thanks!

by **mullet** on Sun Jan 29, 2012 9:41 pm

You firstly need to check your contract or terms/conditions of your employment to see whether you are entitled to claim reimbursement from your employer. If travelling is an inherent part of your job, then it is surprising (but not unheard of) for you to be able to claim nothing. That is the best option for you - for instance if you travel 15,000 allowable business miles in a year then you receive 10,000 @ 45p = £4,500 plus 5,000 @ 25p = £1,250 = total £5,750 received and such amount would not be subject to tax or NICs.

If you receive nothing from your employer, then you get tax relief on £5,750 at your highest rate of tax. So perhaps £5,750 @ 20% = £1,150 in your pocket. But the fuel alone would have cost you 15,000 x 15p per mile = £2,250.

The same principle broadly applies to mobile phone call costs. If your employer reimburses nothing, then you get tax relief on the relevant amount - you do NOT claim "reimbursement" from HMRC.

You claim on form P87, use this URL. http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/p87.pdf
But if your expenses exceed £2,500 you will have to complete self assessment returns.

by **JB89** on Sun Jan 29, 2012 11:11 pm

Thankyou Mullet,

I have gone over my contract of employment several times and also asked my Employers and I am indeed unable to claim anything off the company. All I'm told is "You'll have to apply to get it back off your tax yearly." I did find it strange regarding the claiming reimbursement as technically speaking it isn't the HMRC's problem that I have to use such milage to fulfil my job roll.

So basically summed up, seeing as my Employers don't contribute towards my milage, I can look at loosing 50% of the money I spend on fuel + any wear and tear etc? This seems so unfair, although it's obviously my Employers fault.

As for if it exceeds £2,500 if I have to go down the route of self-assessment what is the script with this UTR number required?

Many Thanks thus far.

by **nikkisizer** on Sat Feb 11, 2012 8:20 am

Hello JB89,

If your expenses exceed £2,500 you have to submit a tax return to claim them for which you need a UTR. To get a UTR you need to register yourself for self assessment.

I have other clients in the same role as yourself so happy to help if required.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require any further assistance.

by **mullet** on Sat Feb 11, 2012 11:45 am

shoes/trousers

Sorry, missed that point. You can only claim for clothing if it is protective clothing or uniform. You cannot claim for everyday clothing. My own rule of thumb:

Protective - fairly obvious. Hard hat, safety shoes etc, over-clothing to protect against anything that the job throws at you whether chemicals, bodily fluids or wind/rain etc.
Uniform - simple test. Can you identify the employer or industry from the clothing being worn? If so it is almost certainly allowable.