Form P87 - mileage allowance relief (MAR)

[Alcosaint]

Has anyone had any experience of submitting backdated claims for MAR on form P87? I have 6, maybe 8 colleagues (all PAYE - no SA) who have received less than approved HMR&C mileage rates for as much as 6 years in some cases.

Before reviewing 6 years worth of mileage records (in the form of weekly timesheets) I would like to know how much detail I will need as back up in case the P87s are queried by HMR&C - I would have thought there is a reasonable chance they will be, given the number of backdated claims being submitted in one go.

The safe option is obviously for me to look at every single day's travel (this will take weeks!) and calculate exact MAR, but I wondered if anyone has been in a similar situation and found Centre 1 (or a local tax office) to be prepared to accept a reasonable estimate of the MAR (e.g. based on samples of time sheets rather than every single one)?

[Simon Sweetman]

Surely if you know what you have been paid and the rate per mile you were paid at, you can work it out and that ought to be conclusive ?

[Alcosaint]

Not quite as stright forward as that - the mileage payments paid in the past have not been as a result of a 'claim per mile'.

They have been round sums figures based on the sites on which employees have been based (which can change from week to week). Taking a single journey, I know that the round sum translates as a rate well below the HMR&C approved rate.

So my question boils down to this... should I prepare mileage records based on every single business trip over the last 6 years (and then calculate difference between approved rate & actual rate) or have Centre 1 proved easier to please (so to speak) with regard to back up information in situations like this one i.e. accept a reasonable basis for estimating the claim?

[Simon Sweetman]

Making a claim for back years (and for several people) you need to be as precise as you can - I think they might be sticky about estimates since if you are making a claim which is mielage based they will expect that to be clearly related to records kept.