We Should be Paid to Cycle!

[fossyant]

£40 odd quid expenses submitted yesterday since November for business miles... Need to do it regular or they will start complaining - new 'policy' about claiming every 3 months max.

 

[Nebulous]

I get 12p per mile for work use. I started my job in July and have done 387 miles. About enough to pay half my new front light I bought to travel to work!

My work are also getting a bit twitchy about late claims and trying to reduce it to two months window to claim.

 

[fossyant]

My business miles cover a chain, fixed sprocket, tyres and pads, but not the rims I wear out in 18 months. Better than nowt and I am one of very few folk that claim bike business miles in an organisation with a few thousand staff. We even have our own expense code for cycle miles, mainly for the carbon returns.

 

[ian emmerson]

I work for a local authority and i can claim 15p per mile for business use. Unfortuneatly i dont do business miles due to locations etc and use a pool car for this purpose.
However, in November i did do 20 business miles and to test the claims procedure tried to make a claim, only to discover the i.t system for claiming mileage which was installed last year at great expense they keep telling us, doesnt cater for cycling miles as they overlooked it.
The claim is ongoing apparently and an email i received last week informed me that they are going to pay me by cheque and if i can forward my " vehicle documents ?" insurance , mot etc they will process my claim ???, yes , they really have asked for mot details.
Quite funny really, and have responded by forwarding a copy of my cars mot, and cannot wait for the reply

 

[fossyant]

My boss just signs my claims and asks a colleague to check. It actually saves my company a massive 50% if I had arrived by a bus.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

Work expenses are 20p a mile cycling, vs face value of public transport ticket vs 40p per mile + face value of parking ticket in car.

The opportunities are few and far between nowadays though.

I'm happy to take my payment for commuting in kind. Not being stuck in a car in traffic, free to get my head into and back out of work mode, not stomping into work and immediately reaching for a coffee, much more route freedom, countryside parks, listening to the river burble along beside me, the wind in the trees, spotting the wildlife, stopping to feed the ducks the last of my butties, interacting with my fellow human beings.

 

[Brains]

I work for a local authority and i can claim 15p per mile for business use. Unfortuneatly i dont do business miles due to locations etc and use a pool car for this purpose.
However, in November i did do 20 business miles and to test the claims procedure tried to make a claim, only to discover the i.t system for claiming mileage which was installed last year at great expense they keep telling us, doesnt cater for cycling miles as they overlooked it.
The claim is ongoing apparently and an email i received last week informed me that they are going to pay me by cheque and if i can forward my " vehicle documents ?" insurance , mot etc they will process my claim ???, yes , they really have asked for mot details.
Quite funny really, and have responded by forwarding a copy of my cars mot, and cannot wait for the reply

The new MOT certificates are just printed out on normal paper.
If you scan in your car MOT and then make suitable changes (power of engine, one man power, etc) they have a bit of paper, you have a 'MOT'

 

[ufkacbln]

As I rode along the country lane in the sunshine on my way to work this morning, I have to confess to slipping into a day dream about a utopia where we were paid by the government to ride our bikes to work as part of a carbon offset programme. I am not talking about cycle to work schemes or not paying any VED. No proper payments for riding our bikes to work £5 a day maybe. Then I woke from my day dream and remembered I needed to scalp the two cyclists who were in front of me on the hill I was cycling up.

Just thought I would share my musings of a morning....

Do you get bonuses for scalping?

 

[Hacienda71]

Do you get bonuses for scalping?

I already get paid for that in improved fitness dollars........

 

[jarlrmai]

hmm you should get bonuses for other cyclists drafting you.

 

[campbellab]

If your company doesn't pay you business miles cycling you can claim tax relief on these. You can also claim the difference if you are paid less than 20p per mile.

Whilst you only get tax relief, 20% or 40% if on higher rate, if you do 1000 miles a year that's £40 for filling out a form and keeping a record. (1000 * 0.2 * 0.2)

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/incometax/relief-mileage.htm

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/p87.pdf

I guess most people who do lots of business mileage, like myself, aren't able to do this on a bike and you cant claim normal commuting costs

Not sure what reporting HMRC would expect from you, but if you kept GPS logs of your trips that'd be hard to argue with. They probably expect more like date + postcode + brief comment perhaps.

 

[palinurus]

I get paid £1 for cycling into work, makes it nice to buy new bibs, tri-suits and stuff with works money

Me too. Actually £1/ day for not having a parking space, I can walk, get the bus, get a lift or even ride a motorcycle and claim it.

 

[marzjennings]

If I bothered to commute in I could claim $80 a month, but with all the after school runs I have to make it's near impossible.