10p per mile

lizro

If I use my bike in the course of my work I get mileage allowance of 10p per mile. Anyone else out there getting mileage allowance? I would be interrested to know if this is an insult or par for the course?

The Chingford Skinhead

lizro wrote:

If I use my bike in the course of my work I get mileage allowance of 10p per mile. Anyone else out there getting mileage allowance? I would be interrested to know if this is an insult or par for the course?

Public sector going rate is generally 20p pm. 10p sounds amazingly mean given that cars get average of 40p while destroying the environment!

lizro

Well I work for the NHS - which is public sector. Any ideas where to get some evidence of who pays 20p to back me up if I try and make a stand?

The Chingford Skinhead

Check Cabinet Office guidance or ask the cycling officer at your local council. 10p a mile is an insult est for the |NHS who ought to be promoting both sustainable transport but also a healthy lifestyle. Ask what the rates are for cars and if they have a green travel plan.

redvee

When I was on a Employment Training scheme many years ago I got my travel paid which was a combo of train and bike and got a mileage allowance way back then, 15+ years ago. Alas the memory isn't that good and I can't remember the amount but I don't think it was as low as 10p/mile.

alfablue

I work for a university, we were paid 10p per mile but that was increased to 20p.

Its really all about whether your employer is serious about green transport, mine is (over 150 cyclescheme bikes bought to date), so they try and incentivise cycling, the NHS can do this too (different trusts have different policies). At my local hospital where I have an office they are cutting sown on staff parking and increasing parking charges for staff (over £1000 per year, but it's okay because nurses are wealthy!), they should be balancing this with better facilities for alternative transport. To many NHS trusts, however, they are just interested in the bottom line and see no relevance to such initiatives to promote healthier lifestyles for their staff.

snooks

HMRC rate is 20p/mile

you should be getting that at least

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/RATES/travel.htm

spen666

if you get less than rate HMRC allow, you just claim the difference back on your tax return at the end of the year

simple_salmon

I believe that 20p for bikes and 40p for cars is the maximum allowable before you have to declare it as taxable income.

spring91

Spokes, the NHS cycle network did a survey earlier this year. The minimum used to be 6.2p per mile, now increased to 10p. One Trust in Devon pays 50p!

There is a spreadsheet available here -
See http://www.networks.nhs.uk/networks.php?pid=1170

Spokes homepage is at http://www.networks.nhs.uk/spokes

woodyonthebeach

how can you get work to cough up. Im interested..................

mickmcg

lizro wrote:

Well I work for the NHS - which is public sector. Any ideas where to get some evidence of who pays 20p to back me up if I try and make a stand?

DfT and it's Agencies get 20p per mile, only thing i've got on that though is on an internal intranet - i'm sure NHS PASA pay 20p, might be wrong though

i thought Public Sector mileage rates/subsistence etc were passed down from Treasury and so were the same across the board?

fonty1978

lizro wrote:

If I use my bike in the course of my work I get mileage allowance of 10p per mile. Anyone else out there getting mileage allowance? I would be interrested to know if this is an insult or par for the course?

You get 10 per mile more than i get anyway :evil:

alfablue

I don't even think 20p per mile is over-generous, cost of bike, wear and tear, maintenance, new brakes, chains, lube, tyres, inner tubes, cost of locks, all weather gear, panniers, lights, batteries, etc etc the costs are quite high, but the largest cost has to be fuel. I reckon that could cost up to 10p per mile, judging by how much I have to eat and drink after a 30 mile ride :oops:

alfablue

Come to think of it, wouldn't it be a great idea, a great statement, and probably a strong incentive, if HMRC raised the bike allowance to be the same as the car allowance (40ppm)? That would surely get some drivers to re-evaluate (or be jealous and bitchy!). It would be a no-cost initiative for the exchequer (as far as I can work out).

Bassjunkieuk

As Snooks pointed out the HMRC rate is 20p per mile. Be warned tho that they will want all you trips documented before they pay-up!

As I work and about 8-10 different sites I created an excel (well OpenOffice Calc as I prefer FOSS!) spreahsheet which I just tally up the amount of times I visit each site a month.
I also keep a track of where I work using my calender in Outlook so at the end of the tax year I can simply print out my calender for last 12 months and they can use that to reference against my journey totals!

At last check I was at just over £380 and I'm sure that was from a workbook with 2 months missing! My first claim (that got turned down due to lack of supporting evidence) was for £800 based on an average of 100 miles per week over 40 weeks a year, the missing 12 weeks accounted for as time I would have had off and time I would have had to use my car to cover the one site I need to drive to!

spen666

mickmcg wrote:

...

i thought Public Sector mileage rates/subsistence etc were passed down from Treasury and so were the same across the board?

If they are they missed my branch of the civil service. We don't have a cycle mileage rate

spen666

alfablue wrote:

Come to think of it, wouldn't it be a great idea, a great statement, and probably a strong incentive, if HMRC raised the bike allowance to be the same as the car allowance (40ppm)? That would surely get some drivers to re-evaluate (or be jealous and bitchy!). It would be a no-cost initiative for the exchequer (as far as I can work out).

Erm no cost apart from the tax revenue lost - ie the loss of income for the Treasury

alfablue

well, it is revenue they never had in the first place, though they might lose revenue from declining fuel sales if it had an impact.

I think I have the first policy for my manifesto.

spen666

alfablue wrote:

well, it is revenue they never had in the first place, though they might lose revenue from declining fuel sales if it had an impact.

I think I have the first policy for my manifesto.

not sure you understand my point re the loss to the Revenue. You seem to be referring to loss on fuel sales, I am referring to lost income tax.

If they lose money this way ( ie increased cycling allowances), they will need to increase it in other ways - more taxes

alfablue

Well I am working on the assumption that virtually no one currently pays more than the 20p limit, so no revenue from that, or from a non-existent portion above the 20p allowance. If the allowance is raised to 40p, employers could pay more without employees incurring tax. HMRC lose nothing, they do however lose the opportunity to tax on the 20-40p portion, but they weren't getting that anyway. So the loss to HMRC is notional.

On the assumption that virtually no one pays more than 20p at the moment, the excel document about NHS rates shows only 16 trusts (of 450 surveyed) that pay in excess of 20p but many of those pay a lower rate for over 2 or 3 miles. Two interesting anomalies, one trust pays 20p per mile for home to work journeys too (a good move to encourage green commuting, but presumably is subject to tax), and another pays a mileage rate or £150 per annum.

alfablue

The funniest entryin the spreadsheet:
The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement: cycling allowance - none

EricaR

I work in the NHS can I also point out when you do get your 10p / mile (which for most journeys, doesn't compensate me for even a bag of crips which I need!!!) it is reimbursed in your pay before tax. So you get taxed on it which means you get even less....

pigeon42

10p per mile probably would be hard-pushed to cover the extra stuff I eat because of being hungry from my ride!

Having said that it IS better than nothing, and I am saving money on petrol for the car, and also on overinflated gym membership fees by getting some exercise going to and from work.

GarethPJ

The HMRC allowed amount before tax is 20p per mile. If you are paid less than 20p you can claim mileage allowance relief, which basically offsets the difference between the rate you were paid and the allowed rate for the milage claimed against other tax you paid in that employment.

The good news is you don't have to fill in a self assesment tax return to do this. Theortically you can claim it back by letter, but the best way is to get the relevant form from your local tax office I think it's a P87. The even better news is that you may be able to backdate your claim by up to six years, but only if you have proof of the rate and miles paid.

In effect you would get 20p per mile, but 10p per mile of that would simply get knocked off your next years tax. Still worth claiming for though.

spen666

alfablue wrote:

Well I am working on the assumption that virtually no one currently pays more than the 20p limit, so no revenue from that, or from a non-existent portion above the 20p allowance. If the allowance is raised to 40p, employers could pay more without employees incurring tax. HMRC lose nothing, they do however lose the opportunity to tax on the 20-40p portion, but they weren't getting that anyway. So the loss to HMRC is notional.

On the assumption that virtually no one pays more than 20p at the moment, the excel document about NHS rates shows only 16 trusts (of 450 surveyed) that pay in excess of 20p but many of those pay a lower rate for over 2 or 3 miles. Two interesting anomalies, one trust pays 20p per mile for home to work journeys too (a good move to encourage green commuting, but presumably is subject to tax), and another pays a mileage rate or £150 per annum.

You are so very wrong here.

If a firm pay out £100,000 in mileage allowances, it reduces their profits by £100,000 and therefore the revenue lose the tax it would have received on that £100,000 of profit.

What ever is paid out in mileage allowances is reducing a firms profit and thus reducing its tax at relevant rate and hence HMRC do lose income