WITH the summer holidays nearly over, it’s worth thinking ahead to what you can save when it comes to filling in your self assessment tax return regarding the correct pence per mile rates you can claim.
Self assessment tax deadlines
- If you haven’t registered for self assessment, then the deadline is 05 October 2015;
- self assessment tax reforms have to be filed by 31 October 2015 (paper);
- or by 31 January 2016 if you do it online;
- there’s a £100 fine for late filing, so that’s best avoided;
- if you’re self-employed there will be tax due on31 January 31 2016.
More importantly, have you correctly identified, recorded and claimed all the tax-free business mileage owing to you?
If you run a private car on business, you can claim 45p per mile for every business mile up to 10,000 miles; beyond that point it drops to 25 pence per mile.
The pence per mile covers your exposure to fuel costs, business car insurance, wear and tear and so on for the business element of the mileage you cover.
These payments are called AMAPs – or the Approved Mileage Allowance Payment to be technical. What’s more, they are tax free.
It doesn’t matter what size engine – the rate is the same. So you would get 45p per mile for an executive style car like the 2.0-litre Audi A4 Avant diesel pictured as you would the city runaround Fiat 500 (background in the picture above).
For any given tax year you can only claim the mileage once, even if you swap cars halfway through the tax year. The mileage is cumulative to you personally.
So make the most of your self assessment tax return – and claim the correct pence per mile rates.
Find out more about the pence per mile rates you can claim
- You can use the AMAP rates for running your private car on business
- If you are self-employed you can use these rates for running your private car on your business matters
- Click here to read Business mileage rates for using a private car
- If you haven’t claimed the full 45p per mile, claim the difference using Mileage Allowance Relief
- If you are a company car driver then these mileage rates do not apply to you. Instead use these rates: Advisory Fuel Rates