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I have opted out of a company car and run my own. I get paid for business mileage to customers etc. I don't get paid for commuting to the office. Which is all fine and dandy.
Another guy at work is in a similar situation, but works from home. He comes into the office occasionally (150 mile round trip) and claims this as business mileage. So far so simple.
Now, work are saying that his trip to the office is not business mileage, as it's to a place where he "receives his orders from" so cannot be claimed despite his home base.
Is that right? Or is it just a stingy interpretation of the rules to save money?
I am looking at a new role that woud be home based, with a 250 mile round trip to the office. Would I have to stand this as unclaimable? In which case I'd soon be better off opting back in to a Co. Car.
Does anyone have an experience of this?
it depends where they classify your 'normal place of work' to be. You would not normally be reimbursed to get to and from there.
we have a rule where your mileage can only be claimed going from your "office" location as defined in our contract.
So for me the office is 10 miles from the house. All mileage starts from there. If I drive from home then 10 miles is deducted from the journey. If they set up an office in my house and paid for interweb, elec etc. then it may be a different story.
Business mileage is always a visible cost and a target for reduction..
If your contract states that the place of work is your home then any meetings are an expense incurred performing company business.
If you're allowed to work at home, then charging them to come into the office is a bit cheeky (if they are being flexible to you)
Pretty much as I understand the rules, it's down to the tax law and where you are based.
Unless you "need" to based from home for business purposes (not just choosing to live miles from the office) then his work base will be the nearest office, and business mileage from there on.
I'm in a similar position, my company based me at a subsidiary company office nearer to my home, so I could claim mileage when I came into their office
I am in the same boat as your colleague. I work from home and then travel to the office every now and again and that is a circa 600 mile round trip. My work accept that they either pay me fuel or train or plane money to get there and back if they want me to attend meetings etc.
While there is guidance on what the rates of reimbursement are tax wise there is no guidance on what the company *should* pay as expenses for employees. If the policy says he doesn't get that fuel then so be it.
It's up to him to negotiate with the company and get something in writing.
somouk - That looks like you are in a similar position.
My workmate has had the same deal since he started; if they are now changing the rules then they should be clearer and not just blaming the taxman.
He would need to take a good look at his contract before he starts probing the company for an explanation and find suitable advice from a tax lawyer to refute their claims if they are blaming the tax man.
It could amount to a change in his terms and conditions of employment which leaves him with constructive dismissal or disciplinary options open if he opts not to go to the office if they won't pay him.
Some interesting info here:
[i]if they are now changing the rules then they should be clearer and not just blaming the taxman. [/I]
Agree, but I'm guessing it's someone new in either HR or within his management chain that doesn't actually understand HMRC rules and/or wants to save expenses.
what's his 'normal place of work'? if that is his home office, then the office 150 miles away is company travel.
presume there is also some contribution towards electricity, heating etc. paid by the company as he is providing his own facilities?
presume there is also some contribution towards electricity, heating etc. paid by the company as he is providing his own facilities?
You can claim some WFH running costs in your tax return IIRC...
presume there is also some contribution towards electricity, heating etc. paid by the company as he is providing his own facilities?
I would seriously doubt that. A phone and a laptop are facilities
it depends where they classify your 'normal place of work' to be. You would not normally be reimbursed to get to and from there.
This. A colleague has just been re-classified as this, so she *can* claim all sorts. Majority of her work locations were closer to home than the office - and so work were saying 'less than your commute, we won't and can't pay expenses'.
She now has formal home working, office space at home with contribution to costs and is paid expenses the moment she closes front door.
I would seriously doubt that. A phone and a laptop are facilities
self employed are allowed to offset a proportion of gas/electric etc. if home based though?
dunno. speak to tax office for the official position i guess is probably the best bet, then see what arguing the toss with the company gets you. ( short shrift by the sounds of it! )
self employed are allowed to offset a proportion of gas/electric etc. if home based though?
There are HMRC rules about this. Take the piss and you risk getting into a whole world of pain. IIRC I claim about £2.50 rent per week for my home office.
Mrs Sandwich says that if his contract states he WFH then all travel to the office is a business expense. She is reasonably high in the HMRC local food chain.
Mrs Sandwich sounds like just the kind of expert I was hoping for.
If it's not an HMRC thing, then I know which way I will go. As for my chum, I'll let him know.
Much obliged.
The Company is not obliged to refund employees for business travel expense to work, we had this at a place where I was on the Senior Mgmt Team and the CFO was trying to cut this expense from employees who WFH so they had to come into the office at their own expense. Luckily I managed to dissuade them from axing it.
If I go straight to site from home, I claim the mileage, which I believe the tax man agrees with. Work recently suggested that we should remove our normal commuting distance from this as we should expect to do that.
When someone suggested that next time he gets called out, he'll drive to the office before going to site.
The subject hasn't come up since.
Just ask HR where your desk in the office is, they are making a good saving by not having him there taking up space etc.
Whilst there are HMRC rules on home working in regards to deductible business expense and guidelines on business mileage rates etc, this sounds very much like a company expenses policy issue which is a very separate thing. A company can pay you as much or as little as they want for travel re-imbersement as it's a contract issue rather than a tax one. As others have mentioned standard procedure seems to be if commuting from your regular place of work as defined in your contract then it is expensible
I was in a similar situation several years ago and recall some old HMRC guidance used to be, provided attendance at a specific office/location isn't over 2 days/week (I think?!), it wouldn't be considered a permanent workplace and so could be claimed if contract states home/field based, subject to your companies HR expenses policy as others have stated? Not sure it's that's simple in reality as the doc. below mentions regular and patterns of attendance:
[url= https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/517266/490.pdf ]https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/517266/490.pdf[/url]
I also do not pay to travel to any of our offices. Distances vary from 30-400 mile round trips.
Sounds like a good way to pee people off to me.
Even if the company don't pay it from an expenses point of view, if hmrc see it as legit you can claim tax relief on 45p/mile so you shouldn't be out of pocket in a company car.
like your mate above i got collared by the then boss, asking me why my mileage claim included the miles i drove from home past the office and back, driving to a job 200 miles away, when it was part of my normal commute. my response was that my normal commute did not take place at 5AM or 10PM, and i followed up by enquiring if he wanted me to claim the miles to the office and back, to the job 3 miles from my door, that i was doing far more frequently. it didn't come up again.
it's right and proper that companies query this stuff from time to time, as they have to be diligent in their accounting, but so long as no-one gets emotional about it, and no-one behaves like a dick, it's just business.