Newsletter issue - August 08.
If you receive less than 40p per mile from your employer for using your own car on business journeys you can claim the extra back from the tax office. Many public sector employers, such as local authorities, do pay less than 40p per mile but their employees may well have to undertake long business journeys to attend compulsory training courses.
If you are in that position you need to calculate the total of the mileage expenses you received in the tax year, and the maximum due using the HMRC rates. Say you claimed for 1500 miles at 25p you will have received £375 (1500 x 25p), but using the HMRC rate of 40p you could claim a further £225 against your taxable income (1500 x 40p £375). You can make that claim on the employment pages of your tax return. Or if you don't complete a self assessment tax return you can simply write to the tax office that issues your PAYE code with the details of your claim. To make this easier HMRC have produced a claim form P87. You can also submit claims for the last six tax years back to 2002/03.
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