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 page specifically covers mileage and vehicle running costs. We also have separate articles relating to
- Parking Charges
- Vehicle or travel fines
- Congestion Charges (E.g. ULEZ, Clean Air or Low Emission Zones)
What mileage is eligible as a Slimming World Consultant?
Examples of mileage which you may do can include:
- Driving to a different group (for example a relief group) for observation, cover or another business visit (not as a member), as long as it isn’t somewhere you go every week
- 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) isn’t listed above. HMRC treats regular travel between home and a place you work every week as ordinary commuting, so you can’t claim it, even if you do your admin at home. For the self-employed, a cost can only be claimed if it’s “wholly and exclusively” for your business. (Sources: Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005, section 34 and HMRC’s Business Income Manual, BIM37600.)
Case study: Doing admin at home and driving to the same location – Dr Samadian
Dr Samadian was a hospital doctor who also ran a private practice. He did his admin in an office at home and saw private patients every week at two private hospitals. He claimed mileage for driving from home to those hospitals, arguing that his home office was his business base.
In 2014 the Upper Tribunal sided with HMRC and said these journeys couldn’t be claimed. He went to the same places every week, so part of the reason for each trip was just getting from home to work, even though he did real business work at home. His trips to see patients in their own homes were allowed, because those weren’t places he went to regularly.
Where a regular appointment or working arrangement takes place, even if doing admin at home doesn’t make the drive a business journey.
Mileage allowances and claiming expenses
When you’re self employed, you can claim mileage allowances from HMRC against any taxable profits for the usage of your personal vehicle for business purposes. HMRC provides two different methods which you can claim for – either as a proportion of Actual Vehicle Expenses or claiming through Simplified Expenses at a standard rate per mile.
Simplified Expenses
Simplified Expenses are designed to make things easier, and instead a flat rate is claimable for all eligible business miles.
You’ll just need to keep a log of all miles travelled on eligible business activity – our cloud accounts system will then calculate the relevant claim amount for you.
Under the simplified expenses route, you can claim as follows:
- First 10,000 miles: 55p per mile
- Above 10,000 miles: 25p per mile (35p from 6 April 2027, subject to legislation)
You should keep a log of all the miles you do throughout the year – the easiest way is the mileage log in the Pulse app. Enter postcodes or use your location, and Pulse works out the miles for you.
Example:
Chris travels 11,000 business miles over the year
10,000 miles x 55p = £5,500
1,000 miles x 25p = £250
Total claim amount: £5,750
In 2027/28, the same 11,000 miles would be worth £5,850 (10,000 miles x 55p, plus 1,000 miles x 35p).
Actual Vehicle Expenses
Actual Vehicle Expenses requires you to record details of all costs incurred by a vehicle and then proportion the relevant amount which was for business usage. This way of claiming costs may be better if you have high vehicle expenses (such as high road tax, insurance or fuel charges), however it is certainly a more time-consuming and complex way of recording expenses.
Vehicle costs you can claim for include
- Fuel
- Vehicle Insurance
- Repairs and Maintenance
- Servicing
- Breakdown cover insurance
To claim via the Actual Vehicle Expenses route, you’ll need to keep records for each year showing the number of business mileage which has been carried out in your vehicle.
You’ll need to keep a mileage log (such as the one in the Pulse app) with details of:
- Date of the trip
- The start and end address of each trip, including the postal code
- Distance travelled (e.g. odometer reading from inside the vehicle)
At the end of the year, you’ll then need to go through your mileage records and add up all vehicle expenses. Proportion the relevant amount against the eligible business mileage, and then you have the expenses you can claim.
Example:
Matt has a personal vehicle which through the year has overall expenses (fuel, insurance, servicing and repairs) of £8,000.
He has records showing that all vehicle mileage for the year was 10,000 of which 2,000 were eligible business miles (20% of the total miles).
As such, 20% of the £8,000 expenses amount can be claimed as a business expense (£1,600).
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 if you are using Simplified Expenses.
Purchasing a van
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.