As VAT is charged on fuel, employees and business owners may be able to claim some or all of the VAT back. HMRC use their fuel advisory rate (we publish this on our social media platforms and our website every month, click here.

Eligibility

• The business must be VAT registered
• This method can’t be used if you pay a fixed rate under the Flat Rate VAT scheme.
• If your vehicle is ONLY used for business, then you can reclaim all of the VAT

Reclaiming:

There are 2 ways to reclaim the VAT:

• Only reclaim the VAT on fuel you use for business trips - you’ll have to keep detailed mileage records including receipts
• Reclaim all the VAT and pay the right fuel scale charge for your vehicle – this way means you do not need to keep any records.

Or

Using The Fuel Scale Charge

Firstly, you need to find out your car’s CO2 emissions figure (which should be in the car’s log book,) for dual car’s, use the lower figure. Then, use the government’s calculator by clicking here.

To Note:

If your business mileage is so low that the fuel scale charge would be higher than the VAT you can reclaim, you can choose not to reclaim any VAT.

If you choose not to reclaim VAT on fuel for one vehicle you cannot reclaim VAT on any fuel for vehicles used by your business.

Alternative

We use Tripcatcher to reclaim mileage and costs,  VAT. It is an app that simply captures your mileage and sends the information to either Xero, Dext or Crunch letting your accounting system do the hard work for you! Tripcatcher starts from £3 + VAT per month, click here fore more information on Tripcatcher.