Many employees previously too busy working to think about tax rebates, are now furloughed, anxious about their futures and looking to save or re-coup money in any way they can.
If you have had to travel extensively in your employed job but been paid less than 45p per mile for driving your car, you are likely to be in line for a tax rebate, for any tax years after 5th April 2016 if you make the claim this tax year. However, you will not automatically receive the tax rebate, you have to claim it.
How you claim the tax rebate, depends on how far your claim goes back, whether the unpaid mileage expenses come to £2,500 or more, whether you are using your own car and paying for the fuel or whether you are using a company car and paying for the fuel, and whether you normally complete a personal tax return.
Less than £2,500 per year
If the mileage expenses you want to claim tax relief on come to £2,500 per tax year or less, the claim is from 5th April 2016 and later, and this is basically a straightforward claim by an employee using their own car, then you can claim without registering for a tax return by using the below link.
https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/claim-tax-relief-expenses/claim-online
You may also be able to claim tax relief for other work expenses using this service.
More than £2500 per year
Again, you can still claim for the current and previous 4 tax years, at this date going back to 5/4/2016 but you must make your claim on a self-assessment tax return. You can register for a self-assessment tax return using the form at the below link.
You will need to complete the ‘any other reason’ box.
HMRC Approved Mileage Rates
| Vehicle type | First 10,000 business miles in tax years | Each business mile over 10,000 in the tax year |
| Cars and vans | 45p | 25p |
| Motorcycles | 24p | 24p |
| Bicycles | 20p | 20p |
Valid as of 31/05/2020
If you are using your own car for work, the amount you can claim depends on the amount of miles you have travelled in the tax year and the amount your employer has re-imbursed you. For mileage up to 10,000 miles in the tax year you can claim expenses of 45p per mile less the amount re-imbursed. For miles 10,000 or higher the claim is 25p per mile less the amount re-imbursed.
If you’re using a company car
If your employer is providing the vehicle, then you can only claim tax relief on the cost of the petrol you have had to bear.
Other Employee Expenses
This blog is aimed at giving help and guidance to employees using their own cars to carry out their jobs where they have had to travel extensively, typically in the case of sales people. However, tax relief on mileage can also be claimed for use of a bicycle, motor cycle or van as in the table above and tax relief on other work expenses is also available.
What now?
This blog is intended to help and guide. We always advise that you check with an accountant or tax adviser before making any tax related claim with HRMC. We cannot take responsibility for any losses or other consequences of an individual using the above information without the support of a qualified professional.
Please feel free to contact me if you wish to discuss this guide further. Based in Fishbourne, a village local to the city of Chichester – and 10+ years of experience!