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Cost control is integral for fleets, so knowing when your drivers are entitled to claim expenses or tax relief is rather important, given that confusion over private and business fuel payments to employees can lead to substantial fines.

What is a Business Mileage Claim?

A business mileage claim is a request made to the UK Government in order to reduce the amount of tax that needs to be paid at the end of the year. Business mileage is an expense which an employee is required to take as a direct result of work-related travel.

What makes a Mile a Business Mile?

A mile qualifies as a business mile when an employee is travelling for the purpose of performing their working role, regardless of whether a trip has been made in a company-owned vehicle or personal vehicle.

Business mileage is applicable when an employee travels to deliver goods, to deliver a product or service, to a client’s workplace, to seminars or conference events, for a mandatory training course, and to a temporary work location. However, a temporary work location is considered to be permanent if an employee spends 40% of their time there.

Business mileage cannot be claimed for any commuting journeys or private travel.

How much Business Mileage can I claim?

How much business mileage an employee can claim is determined by the approved mileage rates for that tax year. This is in accordance with HMRC’s Mileage Allowance Payments (MAPs) scheme. 

MAPs are tax-free payments which an employer makes to their employees for business travel. Although, if a payment exceeds the approved allowance, then it will have to be reported to HMRC. The certain amount allowed includes the insurance and maintenance of the vehicle.

The currently approved mileage rates are:


From tax year 2011 to 2012 onwards

First 10,000 business miles in the tax year

Each business mile over 10,000 in the tax year

Cars and vans

45p

25p

Motorcycles

24p

24p

Bicycles

20p

20p

(Source)

How do I claim Business Mileage?

Whether for an employee, sole trader, or director, it’s important that all business mileage claims are accurate and compliant. That is, records concerning the date and location of every business trip, the total number of business miles travelled, the reason for the journeys, and the amount claimed should all be clearly documented. 

At a surface level, claiming for business mileage is a straightforward process. Albeit, coherently collecting and keeping the involved data is relatively complex. Additionally, it’s advised that this information is stored for at least five years.

In an industry such as fleet management, where employees carry out on-road duties all the time, we highly suggest you to circumvent potential complications by using the right tools. Doing so will not only save a business time, but also help in avoiding fines. For details on how MICHELIN Connected Fleet can support your business mileage claims, be sure to contact us today.

Let's start our journey together

At MICHELIN Connected Fleet, we always start our journey with you by understanding and identifying your business challenges; this is key so that our recommended solutions and services can be tailored to your operations and business.

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