The Original Bio-fuel Is Now FREE!
I cycle quite a lot when I’m at work - as I only cover an area that’s 5 x 4 miles, it’s an ideal way to get around between clients. You could view this as being a little indulgent, but it gives me time to think about things, and it’s perfectly aligned with my employer’s environmental policies.
The only snag is in trying the claim the cost of all those bike miles - HMRC will let me claim 20p / mile, but all our expenses forms seem to be designed around the rate for cars. This didn’t present a problem when that was 40p / mile, as all I did was enter half the miles for the journey I was claiming. But now HMRC have said that car journeys are 45p a mile, and entering 4/9 of my miles didn’t seem to make much sense.
So I queried it, and got this reply back:
From: Helpdesk
Sent: 04 July 2011 12:13
To: Karl; XXXX; XXXX
Subject: RE: Mileage RateKarl
XXXXXXX have no expenses set up for bicycle so you will not be able to claim for this type of travel as there is no fuels or charges to yourself when using a bike.
The only expenses currently set up for XXXXXXX are listed below.
Lunch
Mileage
Tea
Evening MealI would suggest you speak to XXXX directly in regards to how to submit your expenses to them.
Kind Regards
etc.
Riding a bike I burn 700-1,200 calories per hour - depending on whether I’m ambling along (12mph), or going like the clappers (22mph). If I’m to avoid wasting away, I really do have to eat extra to replace those calories. But that’s OK, because there are no fuel costs for a bike - food, it turns out is free. That’s right - the original eco-friendly bio-fuel is officially free.
Also, there are no charges to myself in running a bike (their phrasing, not mine). Servicing, tools, spares, additional bikes, etc are all free. Well at least that should please Wife, even if it is a bit of a shock to the Local Bike Shop’s cashflow.
So. My options:
- Keep schtum, and just claim everything as car mileage? Wouldn’t that be dishonest?
- Conform to our car-centric culture, give up the bike and drive, because that seems to be what they want me to do? You’ve got to be kidding me!
- Exploit a loophole in the system? I can claim for lunch, tea, and evening meals, and they’re what I’m using to fuel the bike.
- Take a stand & make an issue out of this? Highly unattractive, as I’m dealing with a bureaucracy that’d make the Vogon civil service look sympathetic.
- Any other ideas?
Claim bike as car miles and regular lunch expenses. The system is so stupidly set up that it’s easier to just go with the flow. Are you self employed or working freelance for someone?
I’m a Scumbag Contractor (official title), employed through a third-party agency, with my expenses & time-sheets managed by another third-party “neutral vendor” - all in the name of keeping the public sector headcount down. I’ve recently become a huge fan of Kafka.
Claim 40p a mile and then dispute the 20p with hmrc on the grounds that cake is expensive. Worst case you pay tax on the extra 20p as income. Expose your employer to ridicule on the internet.
I would never expose my employer to ridicule on the internet, because they are totally splendid people. Also, as I’m a Scumbag Contractor, they don’t actually need any grounds to terminate my employment.
I might have a cast for disputing the difference with HMRC though - if I average 1,000 calories per hour at 16 mph, then I need to get 62.5 cals/mile down my neck. I think that to do that AND own, service, pimp and maintain a small fleet of bikes for just 20p a mile is a pretty tall order. In fact, I’d probably be better off claiming each individual cost element as a separate expense.
I agree with Adam. “Claim bike as car miles and regular lunch expenses. The system is so stupidly set up that it’s easier to just go with the flow.” - Why make a big issue of it, when you can easily get away with just claiming car miles. You’re doing your part for our planet - I think its time to show the “big-guns” how we want to travel. Maybe they will draw up a new billing system especsially for cyclists - with extra benefits! (Great article!)