Fuel Scale Charge

luappaul

I've got one of those daft Q's that will be simple to most people but it is causing me an annoyance , I'm still getting to grips to VAT.

In regards to accounting for Fuel scale charges, I've read everything on HMRC and the internet and I can't seem to find the answer.

So let's take an example. Suppose you have a car which is used for both business and personal use, so you opt to pay a fuel scale charge in order to claim back all the VAT you pay on fuel. Your car is in the 125-129 band, and your accounting period is quarterly.

This means the quarterly charge is £175 gross, which is £145.83 net and £29.17 VAT. In regards to the VAT return, the VAT element for the fuel scale charge goes in Box 1, the net amount goes in Box 6.

I'm confident of what I've written above is correct , but where to go from here is murky...

This is a Q that is going to sound daft, how do you actually pay the fuel scale charge?

The VAT element will go in Box 1, so you will be paying HMRC £29.17 (of course you will be paying and reclaiming on other things), but what about the net amount? How do you actually pay that? Or don't you? I know the net amount goes in box 6, but you're not actually paying anyone anything by putting a figure in there.

Any guidance would be much appreciated, it's been doing my head in...

Iwls

Hi,

I don't think you're the first person to get confused by this because it is not worded very clearly on the Hmrc website, but the scale charge you pay is just the vat element that you enter in Box 1.

Cheers,

D

luappaul

Thank you. I was edging towards that conclusion, but I couldn’t find a definitive answer anywhere. The HMRC website makes it as clear as mud! I’ve read other pages/discussions on the fuel scale charge, and some people were actually putting the entire figure (gross) into box 1. And I’m not talking about in regards to exams, I’m talking about for real. Maybe that’s what HMRC wants

I can sleep easy tonight lol, thanks!