Wonder if anyone here has much experience with using their own personal car for their Employers business use?

 

I'm a field service engineer working from home, employed by a company and I use my Octavia to travel to customer sites.

 

I am paid a monthly Car allowance with my salary and this is deducted tax, NI and student loan as one with my salary (getting typically screwed because of this)

 

I have a Fuel card which covers all fuel and I get a £30 deduction per month to cover personal miles (I'm told this affects the tax I pay)

 

and from what I understand I will be entitled to a payment around June based on the business miles I've covered in the year once a P11d is submitted.

 

 

But now the company have employed TMC - "The Miles Consultancy" to basically fiddle the numbers as far as I can see..

 

under the new scheme, I will be supplied a new Fuel "credit" card by TMC, log my monthly business miles on a phone app or their website and I will be charged the actual cost of fuel for personal miles rather than a static £30.

 

Now the complex part..

Car allowance is rising another £100 per month (nice)

The company from April will deduct my gross pay by an amount yet to be specified (expecting £275)

Then they will make a contribution that is deduction free to my pay to the amount above (basically so that my employer now pays less NI contribution and I pay less tax and NI & SL)

Finally I believe they are going to pay mileage rates for business use the following month? Which I assume is opposed to yearly however I'm not clear on what rates and I think the company are saying they will pay the full amount e.g. 45p for the first 10,000 and 25p thereafter.

 

 

I'm roughly doing 2-2.5k miles per month which is quite daunting when I think how quick my car will devalue because of the miles/wear and tear

 

Does anyone understand this stuff? have I got the basics wrong with regards to P11d, Amaps/MAR?

 

Would be great if someone else has to deal with TMC?

 

thanks

No experience of TMC but a car allowance and mileage allowance do not cover wear and tear and tyres etc.  Especially on a car that is depreciating heavily.

 

Best thing is to run a pre DPF Modeo or similar that will cost £1200 and when it breaks just get another.

 

 

Now the complex part..

Car allowance is rising another £100 per month (nice)

The company from April will deduct my gross pay by an amount yet to be specified (expecting £275)

Then they will make a contribution that is deduction free to my pay to the amount above (basically so that my employer now pays less NI contribution and I pay less tax and NI & SL)

Finally I believe they are going to pay mileage rates for business use the following month? Which I assume is opposed to yearly however I'm not clear on what rates and I think the company are saying they will pay the full amount e.g. 45p for the first 10,000 and 25p thereafter.

 

 

Not had any dealings with TMC - but our company took a very similar approach in order to reduce their tax liability on company cars, saves them in the region of £500k per annum. For us, it means no longer having the Car Fuel Benefit (in kind), the company deducting the same amount per month which the BIK would have cost me, then at the end of the year they do a "tot up" and depending upon my business vs private mileage I could get a lump sum back.

 

 

So your employer are prepared to provide a fuel card, do all the administration around this and employ TMC but not do the decent thing and provide you with a company vehicle.

Sounds rather complex to me!

Where I work we have two options:
Full time employees - £500 pre-tax monthly allowance (same as yourself) then 20p for every mile. Claim put in monthly with postcodes visited and mileage each day.

Part time employees - 45p per mile for 10k then 25p per mile, no car allowance!!

I believe the 45/25p is minimum for part time, and 20p min for full time as set out by the powers that be, but not 100% on that. Sounds like a good car allowance to me, fancy a swap?! for the 600 a month you could probably lease a car

No experience of TMC but a car allowance and mileage allowance do not cover wear and tear and tyres etc.  Especially on a car that is depreciating heavily.

 

Best thing is to run a pre DPF Modeo or similar that will cost £1200 and when it breaks just get another.

 

The car policy has a set of standards e.g. diesel, capable of 40mpg and less than 6 years old (albeit my octy is 6 now)

After tax, no it doesn't cover all the costs but I still prefer to drive my own choice of car that should still last 3 years over a car I don't like and one which will probably not last.

Not had any dealings with TMC - but our company took a very similar approach in order to reduce their tax liability on company cars, saves them in the region of £500k per annum. For us, it means no longer having the Car Fuel Benefit (in kind), the company deducting the same amount per month which the BIK would have cost me, then at the end of the year they do a "tot up" and depending upon my business vs private mileage I could get a lump sum back.

 

 

So your employer are prepared to provide a fuel card, do all the administration around this and employ TMC but not do the decent thing and provide you with a company vehicle.

 

I believe TMC are taking over the administrative side of the car scheme from my employer, they supply the card, they will monitor the mileage from the use of the card and they request us to supply our business miles so that they can work our private miles. A company car would be more straight forward though

Sounds very similar to the company running our's: from TMCs website:

 

 

Seamlessly integrated into your existing systems, or into one of TMC’s fleet management solutions, Mileage Capture lets you benefit from:

• Substantial savings in cost and administration
• Compliance with Inland Revenue regulations — Mileage Capture was developed in consultation with HMRC
• Free Corporate Manslaughter protection — compliance with new legislation became a requirement for all UK companies in 2007
• Pro–active mileage capture — employees get notified by e-mail, SMS and phone when their submissions are outstanding
• Built in Duty of Care solution — employees sign a safety declaration on a monthly basis (custom made)
• Paperless VAT reclaim
• Co–branded user interface

 

 

Especially the line in bold!!

 

 

 

•  

Sounds rather complex to me!

Where I work we have two options:

Full time employees - £500 pre-tax monthly allowance (same as yourself) then 20p for every mile. Claim put in monthly with postcodes visited and mileage each day.

Part time employees - 45p per mile for 10k then 25p per mile, no car allowance!!

I believe the 45/25p is minimum for part time, and 20p min for full time as set out by the powers that be, but not 100% on that. Sounds like a good car allowance to me, fancy a swap?! for the 600 a month you could probably lease a car

 

Yep me too!

 

I only joined the company last August so I don't really understand the business miles claim system yet, at present I just logged how many miles I do for business so what they'd pay come June I don't know.

But under the new scheme I will be required to record post codes visited and mileage which TMC will scrutinise on a monthly basis. This caused a lot of worry amongst my older colleagues during the conference call as its never gonna total up accurately e.g. driving round looking for somewhere to park or getting lost etc.

 

when I first seen the pp presentation I thought I would be a lot better off but none of my colleagues are so sure which has me concerned!!

Edited 6 March, 201412 yr by acidstrato

 

Sounds very similar to the company running our's: from TMCs website:

 

 

 

Especially the line in bold!!

 

 

 

•  

 

 

 

Ha

 

They have to stick that in there I guess, My first thought on this company was "is all this above board"

Here is a quote from the pp slides I got to see during the announcement

 

To enable the company and its employees to benefit from NI savings and to ensure every employee has the benefit of the Mileage Allowance Relief claim, irrespective of whether they make a claim today or not, the company is implementing a new method of paying the car allowances

 

For each business mile recorded, the company will now pay the full amount of AMAP to the employee as a net payment (e.g. No Tax or NI), in return for an adjustment to the gross car allowance

 

Tax free payments in return for taxable car allowance

 

NOTE: To fully benefit from the enhanced business mileage payments it is important that business mileage is recorded on a monthly basis

tried to post a table of the old vs new breakdown but it didn't work

Edited 6 March, 201412 yr by acidstrato

if they provide a fuel card for business use I would be surprised if you are reimbursed t 45ppm. That's what HMRC set for folks using their own car and paying for fuel. So if you get that keep schtum!

well it does say in the quote above

 

"the company will now pay the full amount of AMAP to the employee as a net payment (e.g. No Tax or NI), in return for an adjustment to the gross car allowance"

 

but to be truthfull I haven't got a F'kin clue hence the post. I asked a colleague if he understood the factors of the change and he spoke about maximum claims being exceeded due to the number of miles we do and that we will still have to claim some relief back off hmrc..... I'm more lost now than when Lost was on tv

When doing business miles do you go the shortest route ? Or does the app log your route? That would be a pain.

 

I recall going to London once from Manchester. I ended up in mid-wales. The m6 was shut though, but the point being I hardly ever go the shortest route, or the sat nav route. Just ads up to a few more miles each day, who can say if they are personal smiles miles.

Essentially, this company is taking over the running of your employer's "company car admin" for a fee..... 

 

The people worrying are those that used to "play the system" for a bit of extra cash, as it is now be difficult to do so. Also those who do lots of personal mileage will no longer be able to take advantage of cheap personal fuel.

 

 Car Allowances are simply that.... an allowance. Technically, if you havent bought a car for work (say on PCP / Lease) then it is essentially free money, or offsetting the depreciation on your current vehicle,

 

If this is a long-term job for you, Sell the 6yr old Octy and grab a lease / PCP that falls within your car monthly allowance after tax. That way, your car is being funded by your allowance, and you will be paying out of your own pocket for personal mileage (via an increase in your quote when you add the personal mileage on)

As is mentioned above, your best bet is to go lease on an octy greenline or something similar. You're on similar miles to me (though im 3 days a week on just a poxy 25p a mile, hence the 8 year old octy!) so a lease is just about do-able. I think last time I looked an octy with maintenance included on 30k a year would be happily in the budget you are given for car allowance.

Depends on your car and mpg to make it profitable if you don't want to put extra in and have a better car. Rates are usually set on what they'd pay to run a car themselves.

I got £400/month then 10p/mile . I could actually make money. Then I could reclaim the difference from the taxman between that and his rates. Running costs worked out to be 8p/mile for me and I was paying £300/month for a fully maintained lease car which included tyres and road tax.

Depends on your car and mpg to make it profitable if you don't want to put extra in and have a better car. Rates are usually set on what they'd pay to run a car themselves.

I got £400/month then 10p/mile . I could actually make money. Then I could reclaim the difference from the taxman between that and his rates. Running costs worked out to be 8p/mile for me and I was paying £300/month for a fully maintained lease car which included tyres and road tax.

 

where was that too and on what car?

 

Given the choice, I'd pay the extra to have a better than entry level car. Certainly making money from the CA is appealing but when I'm spending 60% of my working day in the car I'd prefer something abit more luxurious with abit of poke than a bog standard focus or insignia and the vrs fits the bill, only the xenons are missing for me

Mine was my mk1 Octavia which I got with lex.

I know someone who currently tops their allowance up to get an M3. With their first child due this summer they're looking at a decent spec car which their allowance will cover fully. I'm pretty sure currently they top up by £250/month

Just remember that if you and your employer part ways you will still be responsible for paying for the car so whilst getting something luxurious may be tempting, sometimes practicality needs to be taken seriously.

Personally I think you need to look at personal maintained leases.

If you are paying your personal mileage then your bik allowance should increase. I have a car allowance, no fuel card but am reimbursed at 20p mile. I claim the difference to 45p mile back off the hmrc every year as a paye coding adjustment.

OT but are you the acidstrato off bikeradar?

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Car allowance should mean that BIK doesn't apply. It's only when you get a company car, as you're paying PAYE on your car allowance.

If you are paying your personal mileage then your bik allowance should increase. I have a car allowance, no fuel card but am reimbursed at 20p mile. I claim the difference to 45p mile back off the hmrc every year as a paye coding adjustment.

OT but are you the acidstrato off bikeradar?

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk

 

yes mate one and the same!

 

at the moment my tax code is all over the place and I'm not sure what adjustments have been made to it but I haven't claimed mileage before so I'm expecting a lump sum come June followed by an adjustment going forward but what I'll get I don't know as I don't really understand how its worked out. presumably I wont actually be paid 10,000x0.45 and 15,000x0.25 just the tax on the total but that would be nice haha.

As for a benefit in kind, I was under the impression that I was paying a static fuel deduction every month to stop the fuel card being one.

 

from April the static fuel deduction will be replaced by actual fuel cost for personal use. I had my new fuel card through in the post its just a Barclaycard as opposed to my allstar fuel card

Edited 9 March, 201412 yr by acidstrato

Still on the bike? I've been out today, first proper road ride in 6 months

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good day for it!

 

not done much over winter myself only the odd short ride every now and again but went out yesterday around the moors in Newport.

Have been saying for months that I'll splash out on a new mtb to go up bike park wales but cant bring myself to part with the cash

 

still smashing the Velodrome?

yes mate one and the same!

at the moment my tax code is all over the place and I'm not sure what adjustments have been made to it but I haven't claimed mileage before so I'm expecting a lump sum come June followed by an adjustment going forward but what I'll get I don't know as I don't really understand how its worked out. presumably I wont actually be paid 10,000x0.45 and 15,000x0.25 just the tax on the total but that would be nice haha.

As for a benefit in kind, I was under the impression that I was paying a static fuel deduction every month to stop the fuel card being one.

from April the static fuel deduction will be replaced by actual fuel cost for personal use. I had my new fuel card through in the post its just a Barclaycard as opposed to my allstar fuel card

If your employer deducts private mileage from your salary at hmrc rates, and makes you fill in detailed mileage records between each job, then you shouldn't be taxed at all beyond PAYE on your car allowance.

If you don't fill in anything then yes you will be taxed. Hmrc will deduct the fuel from your tax free entitlement which is circa £5000 so your tax code would be 400 something and I'd expect to be an L code.

If your code ends with a K then you owe more than your allowance. Your coding notices will explain everything.