This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. To find out more about cookies on this website and how to delete cookies, see our Cookie Policy.
Analytics

Tools which collect anonymous data to enable us to see how visitors use our site and how it performs. We use this to improve our products, services and user experience.

Essential

Tools that enable essential services and functionality, including identity verification, service continuity and site security.

Where Taxpayers and Advisers Meet

Self Assessment Mileage Claims for Agile Workers

icedchetty
Posts:1
Joined:Mon Jan 07, 2019 1:48 pm
Self Assessment Mileage Claims for Agile Workers

Postby icedchetty » Mon Jan 07, 2019 2:21 pm

For years I have struggled with finding the correct way to calculate how much I should be claiming on my self assessment when it comes to variable home to work destinations which can vary on a day by day basis. There appears to be no info from HMRC on this and given how many people do this I would have thought they would clear up the guidance.

I have deliberately not given myself a base at work so I can be completely agile and I practically use my home, my car and coffee shops as a base.

My company HQ is a 28 mile home to work distance either way, therefore I have been using this as a figure for practical purposes when making mileage claims for self assessment purposes.

Given that all my travelling is within a 15 mile radius of my HQ and I tend to visit several places within the same day, I treat my first visit as my home to work journey and then claim from my employer all subsequent travel within the area until I leave the last place I visited for home.

This often means my home to work and work to home journey is a little more than 28 miles (home to HQ) by between 2 and 5 miles each way per day. Therefore I claim the additional up to 10 miles per day at the 45p rate as I don't claim this aspect from my employer.

Does anyone disagree with this or have a better way of doing it? Should I be able to claim the whole home to work area and return each day given I could probably class my home as my base given I also work a couple of days a week at home?

If you read the actual available HMRC guidance, it states that "You cannot claim home to work journeys but you can if its a temporary place of work." This is all that is available.... so what if my home is my base or I have no base? And what constitutes as a temporary place of work? If I claimed my annual home to work and return journeys each day I would be claiming about 8,000 miles x £0.45 = £3,600 expense on my self assessment. However I am currently just claiming the surplus circa 10 miles per day so 1,000 miles x £0.45 = £450 expenses.

Thanks

bd6759
Posts:4262
Joined:Sat Feb 01, 2014 3:26 pm

Re: Self Assessment Mileage Claims for Agile Workers

Postby bd6759 » Mon Jan 07, 2019 11:36 pm

What you are claiming is probably about right.

Ignore "base". That is irrelevant for employees (and for most self employed as well). Your place of employment appears to be determined by an area - the 15 mile radius around the HQ. Your travel to and from that radius will be ordinary commuting and not allowable travel.

Note that if your employer is also reimbursing 45p per mile for travel, that counts towards the 10,000 mile limit. Anything above that should be claimed at 25p per mile.


Return to “Income Tax”