Fuel Mileage Allowances

[Witton Park]

I'm sure there's a few that claim this.

I have my own car and claim the fuel, mainly because having a company car is bureaucratic and complicated.

But the 40p for 10,000 miles and 25p for over that is looking less and less attractive a deal compared to when it was set up in 2002.

Have you all noticed that we are now well above £6 per gallon - I've been paying £1.38 for diesel in Scotland last week and £1.35 seems typical.

How can the figures that were relevant in 2002 when fuel was around 70p per litre be relevant now?

So 8 years ago on 15,000 miles per annum £5250 could be claimed back with a fuel cost (assuming 40mpg) of around £1200.
Now the fuel cost would be £2300 so £1100 worse off. Service, insurance, tax are all higher as well.

I have 2.5 services and an MOT per year, go through at least 1 full set of tyres, and with general wear and tear and depreciation thrown in, I feel it's falling short now.

I would argue that the original figures were on the generous side, that this balanced out as fuel hit the £1 a litre point, but that now it needs addressing.


I support the pence per mile rate as it rewards those with more frugal cars.

But I think there should be some increase in the allowance now.

Not likely though I would have thought!

[dominion]

The 40p rate only relates to the limit at which it becomes a taxable benefit. If your employer decides to pay you £5 per mile they are perfectly entitled to. However, at this rate £4-60 is classed as a taxable benefit.

[dominion]

Why does the word 'However' appear twice in my post? I took it out and it completely vanished, I put it back and it appeared twice again??? Wierd!

[bigfella]

I think the answer may be to become an MP as the normal rules don't seem to apply to them even now.

[Witton Park]

The 40p rate only relates to the limit at which it becomes a taxable benefit. If your employer decides to pay you £5 per mile they are perfectly entitled to. However, at this rate £4-60 is classed as a taxable benefit.

But that's been the case since introduced.

It doesn't alter the fact that the cost to a personal car owner who uses his car for a mix of business use has gone up a hell of a lot.

I am probably about £1500 per year worse off than I would have been under that same system when it was introduced and this system is supposed to assure that private car users, who use their own vehicle for company use, are not out of pocket for doing so.

If my employer paid me more to get me personally back to where I would have been when the scheme started, they would have to pay around 18 p per mile more, if you take tax and NI in to account and that would cost them around 20p per mile more when you take their Employers NI in to account.

The AA has figures for a range of cars, so taking my car in the 17 - 20K new and a Diesel category, my car costs are 47.43p per mile based on 15000 miles per year and diesel at 132.8. It is 41.38ppm for 20,000 miles and 37.33ppm for 25000 miles.
Of course that is an across the board average, but it shows that 40p/25p is below the mark now perhaps to the tune of 5p per mile, not an insignificant amount if you are driving 10 - 20K per year on business.

[Witton Park]

I think the answer may be to become an MP as the normal rules don't seem to apply to them even now.

Too right.

Janet Anderson - £11996 for 41,984 miles (+ £3K in rail fares).

If she travelled weekly by car from her constituency to London and back (assuming 50 weeks per year) that would be 20,000 miles.

Just begs the question doesn't it, on how can a MP manage to clock up 115 miles per day average for the whole year whilst sitting in the House of Commons and living close by in Lewisham?

[XRunner]

The simple answer is not to use your car for Company business.

If your Company requires you to use a vehicle then they can hire a car on your behalf.

Make sure that you have no liability for any insurance claimes from the car hire company.