Hiya,
I'm trying to work out claiming bike mileage for my fieldwork, and for-work travel. Currently I can claim 12p a mile by bike, or 38.5 by car.
HMRC guidance [www.hmrc.gov.uk/rates/travel.htm] says that you can claim back from tax up to 20p for bikes or 45p in cars. Except I don't pay tax, because it's a stipend. So me cycling gets 60% of the HMRC rate, and drivers get 85%.
Finance dept has said that this rate is set in negotiations between HR and the Unions: "The car mileage rates are more likely to rise as the cost of driving is increasing rapidly, whilst the cost of cycling does not vary significantly. Neither car nor bicycle rates are as high as the HMRC approved mileage rates.
I am not sure to whom you would need to make a case to get the rates increased, but I would imagine that you would have to demonstrate that the cost of cycling has increased, which I imagine would be difficult to do."
Primarily, does anyone know how I can make a case that the cost of cycling has increased recently?
Secondly, does anyone have any other relevant and previously successful arguments in situations like this? (I did mention that their own travel plan recommends encouraging cycling for institutional reasons, that people who cycle are on average more productive per hour, ill less, and that encouraging cycling will mean marginal cost savings vs paying fully double the price for car drivers. No response on that regard.)
Best,
Pete
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