Mileage claim when WFH

[JulianTheUnicorn]

I wondered if anyone can help me understand this a little better -

My job requires me to attend meetings in my clients homes which has continued, although at a reduced rate, throughout the pandemic. These meetings are beginning to increase again now. Our offices have been closed apart from to those unable to work at home and staff have been advised to work at home if they can.

I live in the next city along from the one I work in and I have been advised by my manager that I am only allowed to claim mileage from the area boundary of the city I work in. To me this feels really unreasonable because my employer is requiring me to work from home but not treating it as my 'place of work' for mileage reasons.

In pre pandemic times I couldn't claim mileage from home - if I went straight from home to a meeting rather than to the office I could only claim any additional mileage above my normal commute which makes sense to me.

I returned to work from maternity leave mid way through the pandemic so missed some of these conversations when they first happened but when I returned I check with my manager and she told me I could claim from home. Unfortunately this was on the phone not in writing. She may have forgotten I live further away I suppose.

Can anyone advise if this sounds right? I have looked at the policy and it does talk about temporary changes to the main place of work being counted as excess mileage and therefore claimable on but I can't work out if it applies to WFH.

Thanks

Yes, this is clearly be an instance where excess mileage should be claimable. Just claim it with a note explaining precisely why you think this is reasonable under these conditions.

HMRC will only allow mileage claims from your normal place of work, otherwise its a taxable benefit. I doubt your contract has been changed to a home based one. So, no.
You chose to live a long way from the office.

@Rollercoaster1920 no my contract hasn't been changed to home based

What I can't understand then is why they're saying about claiming from the district boundary rather than from the office

I always claimed mileage beyond my normal commute, so if it was 12 miles to work and 20 to the client, I would claim the 8 miles difference.

A change of workplace generally means a different location, not working from home.

@fakeplantsdontlookreal yes that makes sense and in pre pandemic times that's what I would do too

For HMRC purposes employees are responsible for their commute to the normal place of work, and can claim expenses for additional work related journeys - either the full mileage from the normal place of work, or the net difference if you start the journey from home. Anything more is a taxable benefit
(Eg if you are provided with a car by the employer but it’s parked at work and only used for work then that’s not taxable to you and is a business expense, but if they give you a car to take home and use then part of its use becomes a taxable benefit)

You may be claiming tax relief from HMRC for home working under covid, if so then that confirms that your home is not your ‘normal place of work’ (Existing home workers are not eligible for that tax relief)

As far as HMRC are concerned you can claim for your journeys, but should deduct home to work

For the companies policy of claiming from the boundary, that could have been an existing policy such as you would only have been able to claim if you went out of the boundary - in which case your pay or other arrangements should compensate you in your contract for any shorter journeys ???

Are they saying you can’t claim until you go out of the boundary, or that getting into the boundary is treated as your standard commute?

It’s your employer’s policy and essentially it’s up to them, in the event your contract is silent on the issue.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no legal entitlement to mileage expenses. Journeys that are not your normal commute could be reimbursed without that incurring a tax liability for you, but just because something wouldn’t be a taxable expense doesn’t mean it needs to be paid.

I’m not saying don’t argue for it, certainly seek clarity and make your case- I’m just setting out the legal position.

Thanks for the helpful responses.

To answer @Tommikas question they're saying I can't claim the part of my journey that is from home to the district boundary which is what I don't understand.

Some of my colleagues live further away than I do but within the area boundary, they're allowed to claim their full mileage but I live 2 miles outside of it and can't claim my full journeys. I mean, we're talking about 90p a journey - it's not the amount that bothers me, it's the principle of it feeling so unfair and arbitrary!

I doubt I'll do anything about it, it seems that the legal stance is what they're saying is ok.

If the employer doesn't pay expenses for such journeys you can claim the expenses in a self assessment return. But only from the 'normal' place of work - i.e. your base, not home.

I don’t understand what you mean by “district boundary” or what you mean when you say colleagues live further away (from what?) but within this district boundary. So I cannot really understand the issue. However unless your permanent place of work has been changed, you can only claim mileage equivalent to the distance between permanent place of employment and the client premises.

It depends if your contract states you work from an office, then mileage can only be claimed it you go anywhere that isn't by the office, if you pass the office to get to a clients house you claim the mileage from the office to the clients, if you won't go by the office then the whole amount can be claimed. Sorry I hope that makes sense.