Claiming unpaid mileage

Claiming unpaid mileage by employer?

If your employer doesn’t pay for mileage allowance at all you are entitled to claim Mileage allowance relief (MAR) on your work-related mileage at the HMRC advisory mileage rates.

For the first 10,000 miles for cars and vans the rate is 45p, then the rate drops after 10,000miles to 25p per mile. for motorcycle this is 24p for all mileage and Bicycles is 20p per mile. Remember you can claim up to 4 years if you have not done the claim previously.

If you are reimbursed by your employer at a lower rate than the HMRC approved mileage rates, you are entitled to Mileage allowance relief (MAR) for the difference. For example, if you drive your own car and have been reimbursed at 30p per mile for 3000 miles, you can claim the mileage allowance relief on £450 (3000*0.15).

How do I claim mileage relief?

The are 2 ways you can claim for mileage tax relief:

  1. If you already complete a tax return (self assessment) the mileage claim can be added on the business travel (on the employment pages on your tax return)
  2. Submit your claim using a P87 form. This can be submitted online through the HMRC Government Gateway, or printed and sent by post.

Remember to claim mileage allowance you will need to keep a mileage log/record for all business trips done during the year. For record to be sufficient as per advisory you need the records to contain the following details:

  • Date of trip
  • Distance covered.
  • Start and finish point always good idea to included full address and post code.
  • Total mileage
  • Mileage allowance already received from employer.

With advanced technology nowadays you do have apps you can use to track your mileage, or a hard copy record is also sufficient. You can find more information on how to make a tax relief claim here.

For more information about mileage and expenses claim, or If you have any further questions about tax reliefs, or any other accounting matters, please contact us. We can offer this as a service, but it will incur a small fee.

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Dividends and Income Tax Changes April 2022

Changes to Dividends

As the new tax year begins, many changes will be made to reflect the current economic climate of the United Kingdom. One such change that shall come into effect from the 6th of April 2022 is a 1.25% increase in the Income Tax rates applied to dividends.

What are Dividends?

Dividends are the payments made out to the shareholders of a company, such as directors and investors. The dividends will come from the remaining value after the Corporation Tax that is due is taken from the total profit for the period. Because of this, the total dividends issued must not exceed the company’s profits from the current, or previous, periods.

Paying Dividends

The amount that each shareholder will be paid is dependent on the number of shares in the company that they hold. The dividends they receive will be proportional to their shares.

For dividends to be paid, a directors’ meeting must be held to the payment to be declared, even if the company only has one director, and a dividend voucher must be completed. The dividend voucher will include the date, the company name, the shareholder’s name, and the amount of dividend they will be paid. Dividends are usually paid quarterly but can also be paid in other installments such as annually or bi-annually.

Many companies will choose to pay their directors through a mix of both salary and dividends. This is because National Insurance contributions are not deducted from dividends; they are more tax efficient.

The New Income Tax Rates

The rise in Income Tax is being introduced as a part of a government scheme to increase funding for the health and social care sector, after it was hit hard by the pandemic over the last two years. Please view the table below to see how your tax rate will be impacted by the increase:

Tax Brackets Thresholds (£)

 

 Dividend Tax Rate
2021/22 2022/23
Personal Allowance

(If no other income)

 0 – 12,570 0% 0%
Basic-Rate 12,571 – 50,270 7.5% 8.75%
Higher-Rate 50,271 – 150,000 32.5% 33.75%
Additional-Rate Exceeding 150,000 38.1% 39.35%

The £2,000 dividends allowance introduced in April 2018 will still be available, meaning that any dividends within that amount will not be subjected to any tax deductions.

The government have predicted that the average loss that will be suffered because of the increase will be around £335 for those affected but has stated more than 50% of shareholders may not even need to pay any Income Tax on their dividends as they fall within the personal allowance or dividend allowance thresholds.

 

If you are interested in learning about the other changes brought in with the new tax year, please refer to our previous blog.

If you require assistance or any further information about how your dividends may be affected, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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Autumn Budget updates 2021

On 28th October, the UK Autumn Budget 2021 was announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak, detailing the current state of our economy and measures that will be taken to improve it in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic and its continued impact on the country.

The economy has been forecast to return to its pre-Covid level by 2022, with the country’s annual growth to rebound to between 6% and 6.5% over the next year. Here is a breakdown of the measures being taken to ensure these milestones are hit.

Improvements for Wages and Universal Credit

  • Since February 2020, the UK has seen a growth in wages of 3.4%. This figure is likely to increase as the predicted peak of unemployment for 2022 has now fallen from 12% to 5.2%, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projecting that the UK’s annual employment rate to continue to be below countries like France and Canada.
  • The National Living Wage will increase starting next April for each age bracket. For those 23 and older, the minimum will increase from £8.91 to £9.50 an hour. The National Minimum Wage for under 18s will be £4.81, for 18–20-year-olds it will be £6.83, and for 21–22-year-olds it will be £9.18. The Apprentice Rate is also set to rise to £4.81 an hour.
  • The Universal Credit taper rate has been cut by 8%. The taper rate is the amount deducted per pound earned, and it has been reduced from 63p to 55p. This means that those who are working whilst on Universal Credit will be earning more.

Changes to Taxation

  • Deadlines for Capital Gains Tax (CGT) returns has been extended from 30 to 60 days. The deadline extension has been implemented with immediate effect, meaning that disposals of residential property in the UK completed on or after 27th October 2021 will have the extended deadline.
  • From 6th April 2022 changes to the rate of income tax applied to dividend income will be applied across the UK. The rate will increase by 1.25%. This means that the dividend ordinary rate will be 8.75%, the upper rate will be 33.75%, and both the additional rate and trust rate will be set at 39.35%. These changes will help to fund the previously announced health and social care settlement.
  • National Insurance Contributions (NICs) are also changing refer to our previous blog here.
  • Eligible businesses in the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors will receive a temporary business rates relief of 50% to aid in their pandemic recovery in 2022-23. It is worth almost £1.7 billion and will be available to over 90% of businesses within the listed sectors.
  • Plans for a rise in fuel duties have been cancelled due to the sharp increase in fuel costs, with prices being at their highest in eight years.
  • Flights taking place within UK nations will see a 50% cut in the Air Passenger Duty (APD) rate, whilst flights taking place over distances greater than 5500 miles from London will see a greater charge and be classed in a new APD band called “ultra-long-haul”. The introduction of this new band is a part of the government’s environmental objectives.
  • A 4% levy is to be introduced for residential property developers with an annual profit of over £25 million from April 2022. The money from this tax will be used to fund housing safety improvements, such as the removal of unsafe cladding.

Government Funding

  • In addition to the £8 billion already planned for the NHS to provide care that has been delayed due to Coronavirus, a further £5.9 billion investment shall be made to tackle the non-emergency backlog and to update their technology.
  • £11.5 billion will be invested into the construction of 180,000 homes through the Affordable Homes Program, with two of this being for homes outside of London. A further £1.8 billion will be used for improving brownfield sites to be used as land for housing. These are a part of a multi-year housing settlement costing nearly £24 billion.
  • Over the next 5 years the government will be investing £5.7 billion into the integration and modernization of UK transport, with the aim of creating a similar travel infrastructure to that of London.

If you have any further queries about the Autumn 2021 Budget, do not hesitate to contact our team, we are more than happy to answer any questions or concerns

 

 

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The Complete Guide to Director’s Loans

This WKM guide explains what director’s loans are and when you might want to consider making one. It goes on to outline how this type of loan works in practice, exploring the tax implications associated with a director’s loan as well as the repayment process. 

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UK Budget 2020: The Key Points

On 11th March 2020, Rishi Sunak announced the new UK budget. He presented several announcements that are set to affect businesses, the self-employed, and working families. Here is a summary of the main points from the latest budget.

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