45p per mile is still less than the ownership costs of most cars and it this this that it covers - not just fuel.
False. You're forgetting that you get the use of the car for private use as well as buisiness. Why should HMRC cover the cost of your private motoring?! Yes, the additional business mileage will increase the rate of depreciation and general wear and tear. But you can't attribute all of the wear and tear to business use and non of it to private use.
If you choose to drive a luxo barge, that's your call. The aim of tax relief is to cover reasonable travel expenses incurred by the employee, not provide a loophole to driving a luxury car for free.
Even if you were to park up the car and not drive it for a year, it would still suffer depreciation and wear and tear. The tax relief doesn't cover fixed costs.
Edit: Most of the people I knew who were able to claim significant business mileage, made a healthy profit on their mileage allowances which was a nice supplement to their salaries. You can see why HMRC are trying to let this wither on the vine. It is grossly unfair on PAYE employees who have to cover all their own travel expenses and can't claim tax relief on anything. "Oh, I needed a new ipad to do my tax return so I'll claim tax relief on it. And the ipad sits on the kitchen table so I'll say that's for business use too. While we're at it, the cost of heating the kitchen is also an allowable expense..." Ker-ching!
Edited by unthrottled on 03/04/2012 at 14:23
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