GUIDELINES ON THE COMPLETION OF TRAVELLING AND SUBSISTENCE CLAIMS 2017/18 1. GENERAL The official electronic F23 form to be used for travelling and subsistence claims. Paper forms are available from the Finance Service. All forms to be signed by the claimant and checked and certified by the officer’s authorised line manager / Head of Service, or authorised deputy, before submission to the Finance Service. Failure to submit a fully completed claim form will result in the claim being returned to the claimant. The electronic form is found on the staff extranet under Corporate, Finance, Travelling and Subsistence Claim Form 17 18. Open the required form and save it immediately, before completing, in your personal drive (H). Work on this saved copy for your claim. Once completed, you will need to print the form. All forms should be fully completed and signed by both the claimant and the line manager and should reach the Finance Service by the 8th of the month following the month of claim. Travel and Subsistence Claim Forms that are submitted over three months in arrears will not be paid. For example, a claim for January is payable firstly in February. It will be accepted for payment up until the 8th May. Thereafter, it is over three months in arrears and will not be paid. 2. MILEAGE ALLOWANCES CLAIMS 2.1 Actual mileage claimed should be in accordance with the ‘Notes for Recording and Calculating Mileage’ seen in Appendix 1. 2.2 If more than one privately owned vehicle is used during a month, a separate claim form is to be used for each vehicle. This is for the purpose of confirming appropriate insurance cover. 2.3 All Car Users are personally responsible for ensuring that their private Motor Vehicle Insurance Policy has cover for business use of their vehicle - business use being defined as journeys undertaken for work purposes. 2.4 In accordance with the Drivers’ Handbook 2009, and any revisions, in order to claim Mileage Allowance, each member of staff must produce a copy of their valid driving licence, insurance certificate showing cover for business use and MOT certificate, if applicable. An Authority to Drive Form is also to be completed. They are to be made available to the Head of Service for inspection, then a copy forwarded to the Head of Personnel for filing. 2.5 Mileage Allowances paid by the Authority are the Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs approved mileage rates. (See Appendix 2 for current rates) 2.6 A timely VAT receipt for the purchase of fuel is to be presented with each claim. If there is no VAT receipt, the allowance will be less by the VAT element included in the allowance. 2.7 The travelling claim form also collates information for the Green Dragon scheme. It requests you note down the co2 emissions of your vehicle. 3. SUBSISTENCE CLAIMS (to include Accommodation) 3.1 Reimbursement of subsistence will be paid only on production of an itemised receipt. The current rates, and when subsistence can be claimed, are found on the Travelling and Subsistence Claim Form F23. 3.2 No claim for subsistence will be allowed within the boundary of the National Park or within five miles of the boundary. Claims must also be in accordance with HM Revenue & Customs regulations concerning dispensations i.e. that the claim should be reasonable and that staff are away from the home / workplace for the whole working day or a substantial part of the day including the lunchtime period as defined on the travel and subsistence claim form. 3.3 The maximum amount reimbursed (inclusive of VAT) for accommodation, unless prior approval in writing is given by a Director or Chief Executive, varies between London, other cities and elsewhere. Current rates are: London £150 per night Other Cities £125 per night All other areas £100 per night 3.4 A Friends and Family allowance of £25 per night is also available. There is no need to provide a receipt. However, if no receipt is supplied, it will be taxable, as it is an allowance and not reimbursement of expenditure incurred. 3.5 All expenditure inclusive of VAT must be supported by a VAT invoice/receipt to enable the Authority to reclaim the VAT element. 3.6 An out of pocket overnight allowance of £5.00 can be claimed without the production of a receipt. 4. OTHER TRAVELLING RELATED COSTS 4.1 Reimbursement of air, rail, taxi and any other public transport fares for a business journey undertaken must be supported by receipts. 4.2 Reimbursement of parking fees where the expense is incurred on business travel and is supported by receipts will be payable. Toll fees are reimbursed whether a receipt is provided or not. APPENDIX 1 NOTES FOR RECORDING AND CALCULATING MILEAGES (Please note that the reference to the ‘Centre’ in the following Notes refers to the officer’s recognised normal place of work). 1. RECORDING JOURNEY DETAILS 1.1 All claims should include sufficient information so that Line Managers are able to make a reasonable judgement on the accuracy of claims. 1.2 All stages of the journey to be listed separately. For example: i) An officer travelling from HQ (Centre) to Dolgellau, then calling at three sites en route before returning to HQ needs to record the mileage and other details on three separate lines:- line1 - the journey from HQ to Dolgellau line 2 – the journey from Dolgellau to the last of the three sites visited, listing the other two sites called at line 3 - the return journey from the last site to HQ. ii) An officer leaves home at Caernarfon to travel to a meeting in Bangor then proceeds to travel to Penygroes for another meeting, then continuing on to HQ (Centre), should record the mileages on three different lines :- line 1 - the journey from Home to Bangor, line 2 – the journey from Bangor to Penygroes, line 3 – the journey from Penygroes to HQ 1.3 In accordance with HMRC requirements, all of the miles travelled are to be recorded, as well as the miles claimable, in columns A and B respectively of the claim form. 1.4 For help to calculate the shortest journey, log on to www.theaa.com and follow the route planner or visit https://maps.google.co.uk 1.5 Some journeys may be deemed taxable due to their nature. If you require further detail, contact the Finance Service. 2. CALCULATING MILEAGES 2.1 There are four main scenarios for calculating claimable mileage: i) Journeys that start and end at centre - all authorised business miles travelled can be claimed - the mileage to correspond with the noted vehicle’s mileometer readings. ii) Journeys that start at home and end at centre - the mileage that can be claimed will be the distance between home and the first site visited or the distance between the centre and the first site visited, whichever is the shortest, as well as the miles travelled between the first site visited and the office (Centre). iii) Journeys that start at home and end at home - the mileage that can be claimed will be the distance between home and the first site visited or the distance between the centre and the first site visited, whichever is the shortest. Any business miles travelled thereafter will also be claimable. The miles claimable for the last journey home will be that of the distance between the last site visited and home, or the last site visited and the Centre, whichever is the shortest. iv) Journeys that start at centre and end at home - mileage from the Centre to all authorised sites visited can be claimed, together with the shortest distance between the last site visited and either Centre or home. 2.2 Illustrative examples for calculating mileage are provided below. 3. CALCULATING MILEAGE - ILLUSTRATED EXAMPLES 3.1 JOURNEYS THAT START AND END AT CENTRE When it is necessary for an officer to come to the centre at the start of the day and then to travel out from the centre and having to return to the centre at the end of the day, then he/she must claim the exact mileage travelled. All business mileage travelled can be reclaimed. Example 1 : Tom travels from his home to HQ (Centre) to work on a project before he visits Plas Tan y Bwlch (PTYB). He later needs to visit Yr Ysgwrn for a meeting there, and then returns to the Centre. Tom then works a while in the office on his day’s findings, and then travels direct from HQ to his home. Tom will be able to claim the miles travelled between HQ and PTYB, PTYB and Yr Ysgwrn and Yr Ysgwrn back to HQ. Column A Column B Line 1: Centre to Centre, listing sites visited 22 22 3.2 JOURNEYS THAT START AT HOME AND END AT CENTRE If an officer begins a journey from home to visit sites, then he can claim the mileage between his home and the first site or the mileage between the centre and the first site, whichever is the shortest (this is for first site only). The officer can also claim the miles travelled between any other sites visited together with the journey between the last site visited and the centre. Example 1: Catrin lives in Y Bala. She travels from Y Bala to Trawsfynydd for a site visit. She then calls in PTYB on her way to HQ. She can claim for the journey between Trawsfynydd and HQ (the journey between Penrhyndeudraeth and Trawsfynydd is shorter than the journey between Y Bala and Trawsfynydd), Trawsfynydd to Maentwrog, and then from Maentwrog to HQ.