Reply to: Too much mileage... creative accounting?

[MarillionFan]

You could cycle.

[Old Greg]

What has happened to you NLUK?

you've changed.

Prozak, if you are looking for the definitive answer to 'What has happened to NLUK?', I suggest you use the CUK FAQ service in my signature.

[Old Greg]

How I remember my first contract...

800 miles per week x 44 weeks worked per year = 35000 miles / year.

Petrol was cheaper but even with the old 40p / mile rate, the £6250 per year covered petrol, servicing and depreciation on my 6 year old car. It did of course come out of the Ltd's account but that was priced into my rate, so no complaints.

[jmo21]

Other options might be 1 night a week staying away or asking for 1 day a week WFH as an alternative.

[geoff from contracta IOM]

Buy an old but cheap to run van. Transit connect.

Pay the £700 a year BIK it'll cost you and then put all the fuel through company books.

There should be no BIK payable if it is used solely for the purposes of work and you have a personal vehicle that you use for personal travel

[Wanderer]

Buy an old but cheap to run van. Transit connect.
Pay the £700 a year BIK it'll cost you and then put all the fuel through company books.

Drive a Tranny van 30k miles a year? With a 60 MPH speed limit on the open road? No thanks.
Those things are gonna drink fuel at motorway speeds. Surely you would get better gas mileage in something like an Astravan or somesuch...

Even if the company "pays" for the fuel, you are still effectively paying for at least 80% of the cost in lost profit so I'd say find something as efficient as you can.

[Sockpuppet]

I have to drive a long way to my current client, but I just about manage this as a daily commute. It works out at around 3000 miles a month. Yes it's tiring but I want to be home each night with the family.

I'm obviously going to hit the 10,000 mile very quickly with this one (< 2 years), and the piddly 25p after this isn't going to be much comfort what with today's petrol prices.

Is there any creative way in which I can legitimately claim more than just 25p/mile for the travel?

Buy an old but cheap to run van. Transit connect.

Pay the £700 a year BIK it'll cost you and then put all the fuel through company books.

[geoff from contracta IOM]

I was thinking something like the SE version of this

New Vauxhall Astravan Sportive 1.7CDTi 16v 100PS Van For Sale UK

[escapeUK]

I was going 30k miles a year for my role at energy company in London. You just gotta take the hit I think.

I have a groovy 2001 Ford Focus Diesel as my commute mobile so even 25p is way more than it costs for fuel and running costs... even these days.

Its only the tax element that you "save" , if you hadnt paid this money as an expense you would have declared it as a dividend and paid corp tax on it.

So sadly for us contractors this money doesnt come close to paying for the fuel cost.

[Wanderer]

Buy a van ? Get it soon and you can use it to pick up the Christmas tree

I suppose you can claim back the VAT and stuff if you get a "commercial" vehicle? That has to be weighed against the fact that you'll be driving a van and face it, if you are doing 30k/year then you are going to want something decent. It's also going to consume more fuel so it's probably not going to work out well.

There's no way around it other than to be more fuel efficient, I've found I get an extra 15% out of a tank by keeping it below 75 but this often conflicts with my desire to get home quickly.

Much as I hate diesels, I think that's probably the best answer. Trade your motor in on a smallish fuel efficient diesel one. Do the sums on the total cost of ownership over a couple of years (depreciation, servicing etc) and try and cut back on costs a bit that way.

[craig1]

I'm in the same boat, to make it worse the parking charges have just gone up too.

There's no way around it other than to be more fuel efficient, I've found I get an extra 15% out of a tank by keeping it below 75 but this often conflicts with my desire to get home quickly.

As I mentioned above, if it's putting you out of pocket then reimburse it at a higher rate then take the BIK hit. As long as you're not seriously going over the rate then you should be able to minimise or even eliminate the BIK tax charge.

[gingerjedi]

I have to drive a long way to my current client, but I just about manage this as a daily commute. It works out at around 3000 miles a month. Yes it's tiring but I want to be home each night with the family.

I'm obviously going to hit the 10,000 mile very quickly with this one (< 2 years), and the piddly 25p after this isn't going to be much comfort what with today's petrol prices.

Is there any creative way in which I can legitimately claim more than just 25p/mile for the travel?

I'm in the same boat, to make it worse the parking charges have just gone up too.

There's no way around it other than to be more fuel efficient, I've found I get an extra 15% out of a tank by keeping it below 75 but this often conflicts with my desire to get home quickly.

[geoff from contracta IOM]

Buy a van ? Get it soon and you can use it to pick up the Christmas tree

[stek]

LPG

[northernladuk]

What has happened to you NLUK?

you've changed.

Everyone assumes all I can say is 'Read the guides', 'Do a search' and 'Go back to Permie' but I am much deeper than that...

As it happens there was a tone of sarcasm in that list. Most people will know I hate 'creative' accounting and play it tight so all of those suggestions would normally get me going.

He also isn't a noobie so can't have a go either.

My hands were a little tied on this one.