It’s very likely that you’ll be driving at some point, whether to team meetings, Slimming World Head Office or even into town if travelling specifically for business purposes.
This section looks at:
- Vehicles
- Mileage
- Parking Charges
- Business Car Insurance
- Congestion Charges (e.g. ULEZ)
Vehicles
Unless you have a vehicle specifically for Slimming World purposes, it is not likely that you’ll be proportioning all of your car costs – this can get difficult if your car is generally used for personal/family purposes, but can still be done.
If your vehicle is specifically for Slimming World use only, you can claim things such as:
- Fuel (e.g. Petrol or Diesel)
- Repairs and servicing
- Vehicle Insurance
- Breakdown Insurance
The actual vehicle (cost of purchasing) should be classed as a Capital Expense – as it is something ‘larger’ which should last longer than a year. These are usually vans.
Mileage
You will clock up some miles! If you’re planning to claim for miles instead of proportioning all of the above costs using the simplified route. This is recommended for most people if you’re using a normal car for Slimming World purposes.
Under the simplified expenses route, you can claim as follows:
- First 10,000 miles: 45p per mile
- Above 10,000 miles: 25p per mile
You should keep a log of all the miles you do throughout the year – a great idea is having a notebook in the car to log these as you go along.
Example:
Chris travels 11,000 business miles over the year
10,000 miles x 45p = £4,500
1,000 miles x 25p = £250
Total claim amount: £4,750
Examples of mileage which you may do can include:
- Driving to a different (e.g. relief) group for observation, cover, or to generally visit on business purposes (i.e not as a member) where this would be for a period of less than 24 months*
- Driving to a team / district meeting
- Driving to Slimming World Head Office for training
- Driving into town specifically for the purpose of banking monies
You may notice that travelling to your own group(s) is not listed above – This is because HMRC treat this as ‘travel between home and work’ and these miles cannot be claimed. Any place of work which is ‘lasting more than 24 months, or comprising all or almost all of the period for which the employee is likely to hold the employment’ is not claimable. (Source: Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003, section 339 5a)
Fines
Any fines you incur cannot be claimed. These are ‘personal’ and not ‘business’ related.
Low-Emission Zones (Clean Air Zones)
If you need to travel in/out of clean air zones, you may be charged a ‘fee’ to drive within these zones where your vehicle does not meet the required standards.
Any charges incurred when travelling across these zones on business are an eligible expense when not ‘travelling to work’ as explained in the above ‘eligible mileage’ section. You can view zones on the Gov website.
Note: Although the charge for driving in/out of the zone is eligible, a fine or charge for non-payment is not eligible as per the previous section above.
Parking Charges
You can claim for parking costs when you are using the parking specifically for business activity – e.g. at a community activity
Business Car Insurance
Note: You will need to purchase Business Car Insurance to claim these – as your vehicle may not ordinary be covered for business purposes. Check with your insurer about this. Any additional premium for the Business element of insurance cannot be claimed.
Congestion Charges (E.g. ULEZ)
Tax relief can be claimed on clean air charges in all UK cities, such as ULEZ (London) where the travel meets the above criteria for ‘wholly and solely’ for business purposes.