To think this can’t be right?

[CatchingBabies]

I work full time, NHS in case my username doesn’t give it away.

I have recently started doing a community based role, home visits etc. and so had to update my car insurance to business use (at my own expense) I also now claim a mileage allowance which is the absolute bare minimum that’s legal I believe.

This allowance is paid to me once every 3 months after I submit claims, petrol receipts etc. As it is paid as part of my wages I have been taxed on the amount meaning that the allowance I receive no longer covers the actual costs.

Also tax credits have now stated that this counts as income and have deducted the entire amount I receive off my child tax credits payments, and they’ve used the pre-tax amount so they have deducted more than I actually get.

It means that I’m now being paid LESS than I was when I was hospital based for doing the exact same hours and on top of this have to pay business insurance, car parking fees and petrol, never mind the depreciation on my car.

Surely this can’t be right? I’ve spoke to my tax office, tax credits and payroll today and they all say it it!

Why would anyone do a community role if this is true?

I’m in a community role for local government, my petrol allowance and parking expenses are paid after tax has been deducted, I don’t claim tax credits so not sure how those will be affected, business use on my insurance wasn’t any extra either.

I’ve only been driving 2 years and had to be insured to carry flammable gasses so it put it up by £38 a month. My fuel is paid in with my wage, not separately it’s definitely been taxed.

I’m honestly at the point of handing my notice in at the moment. As my son is severely disabled carrying on working full time is seriously hard and the carers for him alone cost a huge amount each month. I feel like I struggled less financially when I was at home caring for him full time.

The reimbursement of mileage should be added after your salary calculations and not taxed so you need to speak to your payroll department and get them to correct it. As for WTC expenses reimbursed should not be included in you income figure.

"If you paid such expenses and were not reimbursed by your
employer, deduct the amount of these from your gross pay.
If your employer reimbursed you, do not include the reimbursed
amount received in your claim."
This is from the tax credits claim form ct600 notes if that helps.

It’s child tax credits if that makes a difference, it’s only the severe disability part we receive. I spent an hour on the phone and they told me it’s a benefit in kind and counted as income.

The mileage shouldn't be tax deductible, it never was when I was in the community. This is what I hated about community, the wear and tear on my car, punctures, it wasn't worth it in the end. They really should provide us with a work car to use when out and about.

Mileage reimbursement absolutely is not tax deductible. You are effectively being taxed twice. Someone in your payroll Dept is a bloody idiot!

Expenses are essentially you loaning the company money and them paying you back. You have been taxed on your original income, they cannot tax you twice.

Have a look on the hmrc website as it should give you the info and then demand they sort it out.

It really doesn't sound right to me, can you get some guidance from your trust HR or union?

Can you speak to an accountant? Obviously from a logical point of view it shouldn't be taxed but you need expert advice.

I would also speak to an accountant. Also Google HMRC website it's very informative if you can find the correct page.

It would be a benefit in kind of they were covering some of your personal expenses but if they are just paying you back for expenses incurred for doing your job then it's not. It may be worth speaking to one of the specialist CAB advisors as they will certainly have come across this situation before.

It is very frustrating trying to navigate these things when all you want to do is get paid for doing a job!

Some mileage is taxable but yours shouldn’t be. I have to tick a box when submitting my claim, saying whether they are taxable miles or not, is it possible yours has something similar?

It shouldn’t be a taxable benefit. Or at least not if it is 45p/mile or less, assuming you do up to 10,000 business miles.

It could have been included on your payslip but not taxed - have you checked the figures?

No idea on the child tax credit front but that doesn’t sound right

I’ve attached the wage slip to show you, I think they are adding it wrong. It’s included in my basic pay and nowhere does it say it’s mileage reimbursement. I only know as they emailed and told it me it had been added and my basic pay went up.

If you are not getting 45p a mile then you can also claim through a tax return

Mileage. If the mileage allowance that your employer pays you is less than the HMRC rate, you are able to claim the balance. The first 10,000 business miles, according to HMRC, can be claimed at a rate of 45p per mile.

There isn't any mileage on that payslip. I don't think you've been paid your expenses. When you are it definitely isn't taxable (up to 10,000 miles at 45p) and doesn't affect your tax credits.

I get 25p a mile. It frustrates me that this is all so hard. It’s bad enough paying £120 a year to do a my job and £12 a month for the privilege of parking there!

They’ve told me I have been paid it and my basic pay is up by £200 so it seems like they’ve added it to that.

Your work expenses are just that, expenses incurred,by you for course of your work. These are repaid in full and are not taxed.

I feel your pain though so far as at 11p a mile, my mileage reclaim does not cover what I spend. I have worked out about 16p a mile. So on based on the business miles I do I'm about £400 out of pocket a year.

What bestseller said above. I'm an accountant, you shouldn't be taxed on reimbursement of expenses.

They haven’t paid it as expenses. They need to pay it separately on your payslip.

Reimbursement of business mileage is not taxable, so if they have deduct tax then they are wrong & you can reclaim the tax paid.

Your payroll department is run by a chimp. An incompetent chimp at that. It looks like they've treated your mileage as private travel, that's the only way they can add it to your earnings.

It shouldn’t appear on your payslip as pay. It should appear as expenses/mileage.

I'm Community NHS staff too. Your wage slip is wrong. Travel should be itemised out on your wage slip under:
Parking Costs
Business miles
Under your basic pay.

If it's lumped in with basic pay, you will be taxed. You're owed that money back.
Can't you get your line manager or departmental operations manager to sort this out for you with your trust's payroll/wages dept as a matter of urgency?