Agency Driver P87 Tax Form - What can I claim for?

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

Hi, I remember reading that as an agency driver and working for different companies that you can claim back your mileage using a P87 form.

I have been keeping a record of where I have been working on what dates and mileage traveled. Im going to print out the forms and wondered if I can also claim for food/work wear and boots/my HGV training course from the previous year?

Ive only got until the 5th of April to send it in so any help and advice on filling out the form would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers

Dan

2

1ntense:
Hi, I remember reading that as an agency driver and working for different companies that you can claim back your mileage using a P87 form.

I have been keeping a record of where I have been working on what dates and mileage traveled. Im going to print out the forms and wondered if I can also claim for food/work wear and boots/my HGV training course from the previous year?

Ive only got until the 5th of April to send it in so any help and advice on filling out the form would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers

Dan

As an agency driver, with no permanent place of work, you can claim for travel to and from the location of each day’s work. You can claim for any costs that you have to specifically incur to do your job, so that’s PPE, boots, workclothes, hard hats, gloves etc. You can claim the cost of any courses you have invested in to do your job, so that includs DCPC,ADR courses, any forklift and HIAB qualifications etc, etc,.

You cannot claim for food. (Everyone has to eat!)

Keep in mind that with regard to all these costs, you don’t actually get the money back from that tax man. It is set against your total gross income and effectively increases the point at which you start to pay tax. Mileage is 0.45p per mile for the first 2,500 miles and then 0.25p per mile after that I think. The complete details of what you can and can’t claim for can be found on the HMRC website.

3

ok thanks mate.

was getting a bit worried that I wouldnt be entitled to anything as they may deem my place of work to be permanent as I work for the same agency at the same place I would say for about 80% of the year but there are other bits and bobs dotted inbetween working at that particular place throughout the year which Im hoping will still make me entitled to claim for the mileage Ive done?

was hoping that I would get it in a lump sum but I suppose that was wishful thinking and a bit too good to be true!

then theres the question of how does it affect my and my partners tax credits?

all a bit confusing really!

think I read that sometimes they do give you it in a lump sum though, do you know when that tends to happen though?

Ive done about 9k miles travelling to work in the last tax year

Cheers

Dan

4

Hi,

Slightly different deal but a few years ago I was out doing a regional role for my company, but using my own car and working from home so entitled so certain tax relief too.

I found actually ringing the tax office the best way to find out how it affected me, they are the best to tell you. They are also really helpful and informative, and nowhere near as scary as I thought they would be.

5

Thanks mate, I may try that.

My only worry is that they may turn around and flat out say no, you’re not entitled to claim for anything. Whereas if I just fill out the form, they may just credit me with what Ive claimed for if you know what I mean :slight_smile:

I know that agency drivers use the umbrella companies and claim for mileage, food, laundry etc. I chose not to go with an umbrella and try to claim at least my mileage back the P87 way which would also allow me to get my holiday/sick pay from the agency as well so hope it works or I may have shot myself in the foot a bit :frowning:

6

plus a fifth of the price of a medical for your licence.

7

your telling me i can claim for mileage working with an agency…

gangnamit

8

gogzy:
your telling me i can claim for mileage working with an agency…

gangnamit

You can probably claim for a few previous years I should think, mileage is a bit random too, from memory you have to be able to prove it if asked, but hardly get asked.

For my mileage relief the first time I claimed, I claimed 3 previous years and didn’t get asked for any proof.

I did have records of where I went though, just in case.

9

need to get on the case, could be owed quite a bit :slight_smile:

but i think i need to start keeping records.

10

1ntense:
as they may deem my place of work to be permanent as I work for the same agency at the same place I would say for about 80% of the year but there are other bits and bobs dotted inbetween working at that particular place throughout the year which Im hoping will still make me entitled to claim for the mileage Ive done?

If your agency have an office that you don’t start your day from, i.e. You don’t go into that office on a daily basis, and then travel to your place of work, then you can claim mileage as a mobile worker. It doesn’t matter how many times you go to the same place, as long as you can show that you do go elsewhere. You have to show, or avoid HMRC from claiming, that the majority of your work is carried out at a single location.

was hoping that I would get it in a lump sum but I suppose that was wishful thinking and a bit too good to be true!

1ntense:
then theres the question of how does it affect my and my partners tax credits?

Can’t help you on tax credits, but I’m certain the info will be available out there somewhere.

all a bit confusing really!

1ntense:
think I read that sometimes they do give you it in a lump sum though, do you know when that tends to happen though?

Basically you’ll get a lump sum if you’re claiming the mileage allowance towards the end of a tax year (like now) and you haven’t claimed it before. If the approve your application (and HMRC like to make it difficult by saying they don’t consider you a mobile worker) you should get a lump sum back payment based on how many miles you’ve done in the last tax year - so that’s from April 2011!

Again, if they approve your mileage claim, and pay you for the past tax year, they will almost certainly change your tax code to reflect the effectively raised tax threshold.

1ntense:
Ive done about 9k miles travelling to work in the last tax year

Just make sure you have a simple spreadsheet with the dates of your working days, the name of the agency customer, the postcode you started from, the postcode you went to, the miles there and the miles back, and the total number of miles. Don’t try and sneek a few extra miles either. (If they do a calculation, or think that you’re trying to pull the wool over their eyes, they won’t think your claim is credible and they’ll refuse your claim! Go to Google Maps and put in the two postcodes and get Google to plot a route. It will give you the total miles.

Oh, and don’t forget you’re claiming for travel both ways… You’d be surprised how many people only claim for one way! :unamused:

11

Oh, and if you can prove your case, you can actually claim retrospectively for up to six years I think. (Don’t hold me to that, and expect a major HMRC investigation, but as I said, if you have incontrovertible proof that you’ve worked as a mobile worker and you’ve made very accurate records of your traveling, there’s no reason why you should not claim your mileage allowance retrospectively.

Expect them to turn you down several times, and also ask in a very menacing way, why you haven’t claimed previously… :unamused:

12

1ntense:
My only worry is that they may turn around and flat out say no, you’re not entitled to claim for anything. Whereas if I just fill out the form, they may just credit me with what Ive claimed for if you know what I mean :slight_smile:

If you have accurate records, and you fill in the form correctly, you shouldn’t have a problem. That said there are plenty of agency drivers who have been refused point blank, but that’s because either they haven’t known what the correct form is, they haven’t filled it in correctly, they haven’t got records, or they expect HMRC to just give it to them…

1ntense:
I know that agency drivers use the umbrella companies and claim for mileage, food, laundry etc. I chose not to go with an umbrella and try to claim at least my mileage back the P87 way which would also allow me to get my holiday/sick pay from the agency as well so hope it works or I may have shot myself in the foot a bit :frowning:

This is a very, very different ball game. HMRC are very skeptical about umbrella companies working for agencies and unless you (and by definition your umbrella company) has several legitimate customers you can expect HMRC to take a keen interest (for interest, read hassle) in what you claim for and how you run your company. Frankly speaking they know you’re flying close to the wind and trying to use the system to reduce your tax bill.

If you’re paying PAYE through an agency, then there’s no reason why you can’t claim for your legitimate expenses… but like I said, make sure you have cast iron proof and records. Especially so if you’re back claiming!

13

1ntense:
ok thanks mate.

was getting a bit worried that I wouldnt be entitled to anything as they may deem my place of work to be permanent as I work for the same agency at the same place I would say for about 80% of the year but there are other bits and bobs dotted inbetween working at that particular place throughout the year which Im hoping will still make me entitled to claim for the mileage Ive done?

was hoping that I would get it in a lump sum but I suppose that was wishful thinking and a bit too good to be true!

then theres the question of how does it affect my and my partners tax credits?

all a bit confusing really!

You must not spend more than 40% of your working year at the same client you are claiming expenses to.
Subsistence is available if the shift is over 10 hours away from home. (ie you CAN claim for food - at least I do, but you must actually eat some bought whilst on duty rather than take a packed lunch)

How does if affect tax credits?

If you gross £500, and claim £100 in expenses, then you get £400 added to your “gross to date” figure which is the one used to calculate where tax begins AND what threshold of tax credits you are entitled to as a household.

In my household, it worked out that if my wife gave up her £150 a week job, and I claimed about £100 a week in expenses, then the tax credits & rebate would make up nearly every pound lost by my wife giving up the job. If that involves dumping a second car as well, then you could be seriously in for what I call the “austerity windfall” where basically “Less is More”!! :grimacing:

think I read that sometimes they do give you it in a lump sum though, do you know when that tends to happen though?

Ive done about 9k miles travelling to work in the last tax year

Cheers

Dan

14

Raz38:
…

I found actually ringing the tax office the best way to find out how it affected me, they are the best to tell you. They are also really helpful and informative, and nowhere near as scary as I thought they would be.

If you do ring the tax office then try & get what they say in writing, or find where it is written in black & white. If you speak to two different advisers you are more than likely to get two different answers, & unfortunately you cannot even speak to an adviser face to face these days, they just have a row of phones in the tax office - not half as friendly/useful as they used to be.

15

some tax offices think that form P87 is only for mileage allowance.
it comes with a booklet. look through the booklet, find the bit that concerns you, photocopy and highlight the relevent bit. trust me, this is very important, they are only human.
i’ve claimed for my hgv lessons, and test, licence, licence renewal, passport, digicard, boots. and a few other bits and bobs.
the dcpc can be claimed back.
i’ve been finding ways of avoiding tax for a long time, it’s a bit of a hobby.
my old boss rang me the other day. he’s got a new nickname for me. “shawshank”.

16

1ntense:
Ive only got until the 5th of April to send it in

You must wait until after 5th of April to make a claim for the 2011-2012 tax year.
Ideally wait until the P60`s are issued as that will have the tax number on for the agency etc (the 1st box on the top right corner).
also remember you must use one P87 form per employer

17

well i didnt know i could claim for this so thanks :smiley:

18

they don’t ask for receipts. but be realistic. :wink: :laughing:

19

EastAnglianTrucker:
Oh, and if you can prove your case, you can actually claim retrospectively for up to six years I think. (Don’t hold me to that, and expect a major HMRC investigation, but as I said, if you have incontrovertible proof that you’ve worked as a mobile worker and you’ve made very accurate records of your traveling, there’s no reason why you should not claim your mileage allowance retrospectively.

Expect them to turn you down several times, and also ask in a very menacing way, why you haven’t claimed previously… :unamused:

also expect them to ask to see your insurance policy for your vehicle and if it aint insured for business use you wont be claiming for it

20

And if they ask to see your insurance, tell them to ■■■■ off. They are not the road insurance police and it has sod all to do with them!