If you use your own vehicle for work, you may be entitled to claim money back to help pay for petrol costs.
With rail strikes announced for this week, many people will likely opt to take their car into work due to no trains running. The Rail, Maritime and Transport workers union (RMT) is holding three days of nationwide strikes this week.
Last week Merseyrail announced it would not be able to run any trains on the network on the strike days of Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday and there will also be no replacement buses running on those days. But if you do decide to take your vehicle into work, you may be able to claim back for every mile driven, the Mirror reports.
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Employers do not need to pay you anything at all for miles driven in your own car, but when bosses do pay, most employers will set a cap. Based on guidance from HM Revenue & Customs, it does not include the miles driven between your home to work.
For using your own car, this is 45p for the first 10,000 miles a year driven for work, then 25p for every mile after that. If you ride your own motorbike, it's 24p per mile, and if you use a personal bicycle it's 20p a mile.
Additional claims
According to the Mirror, as well as fuel costs, mileage is meant to compensate for things like insurance and repairs as well as the value of your car. For example, someone driving 5,000 miles in their own car will be able to claim £2,250 mileage during a tax year if their boss pays 45p a mile.
But, if your boss does not pay you an allowance per mile, you can get tax relief on what you drive instead, depending on your personal miles and tax rate. For example, someone driving their own car 5,000 miles a year and paying basic rate 20% tax would get £450 in tax relief if their boss paid them no mileage at all.
If your employer does pay some mileage, but less than the HMRC guidelines, you can still claim tax relief for a reduced amount.
Petrol prices
Earlier this month, it was reported that the main reason for high petrol prices is due to a jump in oil prices, with demand rising sharply as economies around the world emerged from covid lockdowns. Prices spiked after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in March.
According to the Mirror, government figures show that the average litre of petrol now costs a record high of 182.5p. Diesel costs are also at an all-time high of 190.4p. It now costs £3,556 a year on average to run a car, according to personal finance experts NimbleFins.
With the soaring cost of fuel, people have previously been urged to "cut out shorter journeys" by car as fuel prices continue to spiral. The AA said motorists should "walk or cycle to save money". But those who do need to drive, can save money by following just two steps at the pump.
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