i don't understand the 40p per mile rule

[kindredspirits]

i've done my accounts for the past 6 months - how long i've been working, and my profit is £670 :eek: this is without claiming anything for car expenses. i know you can claim 40p per mile but how do you go about proving/working out how many miles you drive??? or am i being thick? i have a huge wadge of petrol receipts etc but am thinking of just writing them off as i dont understand what to do!! lol
anna x
p.s. i also forgot to take off phone bills etc but oh well, i'm not going to be paying tax anyway!

[hello kitty]

I was advised to keep a book and record my start mileage and end mileage for each trip I make in connection with childminding. I keep forgetting so I have a chart with my regular trips on it and then use that. So, if I do the school run for 5 days that would be 10 trips and a round trip is 4 miles so my expenses would be 40p per mile x 40 (10 trips x 4 miles each trip) = £16.00 hth :D

[Daftbat]

I use my NCMA accounts book - i put in the details of where we went and then put the mileage in the description box in a circle and the actual claimable amount in the proper column.

I had my accounts done for me once by an accountant and he was more than happy with it. If you have a regular mileage claim for a child going to nursery etc i do the same thing and put the whole weeks mileage in a circle by their name when i do their meaql allowances etc. So long as things look reasonable noone is going to take issue with you.

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I keep a list of standard journeys in my diary - i.e. hme - school - hme x 2 = 7 miles

I put my journeys in my diary and add them up at the end of the year and multiply them by .40p

If you income less expenses is £670 don't worry about it from a tax point of view but you could make a loss with mileage and phone and this can be carried forward to next year and written off against your (large) profit next year

[Louise_Oaktree]

don't forget if you use the 40p per mile rule you cannot then claim MOT, Service, car insurance & running costs etc as these are covered in the 40p.

Saw both listed in one of the expenses lists but I can't seem to find the thread now :(

[rickysmiths]

Also don't forget to claim the mileage for your food shopping trips to the supermarket and your trips to the bank to pay in your cheques.

Mine added up to just under £200 last year.

[sarah707]

don't forget if you use the 40p per mile rule you cannot then claim MOT, Service, car insurance & running costs etc as these are covered in the 40p.

Saw both listed in one of the expenses lists but I can't seem to find the thread now :(

The thread is here...

http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=2734

... and it clearly states that you can claim for either 40p a mile OR other car costs.

There is a link given at the top of the first post which you can follow for more information :D

[TheBTeam]

I do the same as above and each week record my journeys into my ncma accounts book ie KM Sch-ret-home 5 days x 14m and then in the amount put £28.00, as you can see it doesn't take long for the mileage money to mount up.

I too have a list of miles for the standard journeys and it is easy to remember where you have been each week and quite often journeys repeat themselves, so you get into a pattern.

At the end of the year i add in my ones for any shopping trips/bank trips as a lump sum, this is a nice little bonus at the end of the year so my expenses are always higher than i think. I do this to add in the cleaner/window cleaner cost as if i wasn't working at this job i wouldn't need the jobs done for me!

[youarewhatyoueat]

I do the same as above and each week record my journeys into my ncma accounts book ie KM Sch-ret-home 5 days x 14m and then in the amount put £28.00, as you can see it doesn't take long for the mileage money to mount up.

I too have a list of miles for the standard journeys and it is easy to remember where you have been each week and quite often journeys repeat themselves, so you get into a pattern.

At the end of the year i add in my ones for any shopping trips/bank trips as a lump sum, this is a nice little bonus at the end of the year so my expenses are always higher than i think. I do this to add in the cleaner/window cleaner cost as if i wasn't working at this job i wouldn't need the jobs done for me!

Lol, i'm sorry but the window cleaner is not a business expense, there are loads of self employed people who manage to clean their windows after work or on the weekend if they all claimed for a window cleaner because they didn't have time to do it where does it end:laughing: :laughing: and we all manage to clean our houses many of us on our own, perhaps I shall have to start charging myself to clean as well.
Don't take this the wrong way I am being light hearted Lol you can all claim for whatever you like it's highly unlikely we will ever get checked. Which is a good job.

[Chatterbox Childcare]

Lol, i'm sorry but the window cleaner is not a business expense, there are loads of self employed people who manage to clean their windows after work or on the weekend if they all claimed for a window cleaner because they didn't have time to do it where does it end:laughing: :laughing: and we all manage to clean our houses many of us on our own, perhaps I shall have to start charging myself to clean as well.
Don't take this the wrong way I am being light hearted Lol you can all claim for whatever you like it's highly unlikely we will ever get checked. Which is a good job.

I claim cleaning indoors as the children are forever putting their hands over them and if I wasn't doing this job then they wouldn't need doing!

I don't claim for outside though

[Chatterbox Childcare]

It is worthwhile getting all your expenses in and working out telephone, mileage etc and you will finish with a loss by the sound of it and you can carry that forward to reduce next years profit

[TheBTeam]

Lol, i'm sorry but the window cleaner is not a business expense, there are loads of self employed people who manage to clean their windows after work or on the weekend if they all claimed for a window cleaner because they didn't have time to do it where does it end:laughing: :laughing: and we all manage to clean our houses many of us on our own, perhaps I shall have to start charging myself to clean as well.
Don't take this the wrong way I am being light hearted Lol you can all claim for whatever you like it's highly unlikely we will ever get checked. Which is a good job.

The window cleaner cost is for my conservatory which has low level windows and the kids attack it from inside and out, something which would not happen if i never did this job, i do not claim for the rest of the house, just the windows that only keep getting dirty with their hands. I also only claim cleaning costs for the kitchen and bathroom which are the rooms that need an extra clean over and above what i do as i go along.

[Nix]

Argh it sounds almost as complicated as 'the offside rule'.:laughing:

[TheBTeam]

Argh it sounds almost as complicated as 'the offside rule'.:laughing:

You'll be fine then, cos most men think they can understand that one!:laughing: