Product/Service

Discover the most frequently asked Fuel Cards questions

What are the regulations concerning fuel cards?

There are strict rules concerning vehicles and fuel expenses in any organisation. While there is no specific legislation for fuel cards, the use of such tools has to follow some rules connected with vehicles and fuel. In 2020, VAT and FED –Fuel Excise Duties- account for more than 50% of pump prices in the UK. In some conditions, companies can claim refunds for the payment of these taxes. 

First, VAT can be fully reclaimed for all business-related trips, and this does *not* include trips to and from work by employees, which besides, are considered taxable benefits.

 

In order to get a VAT refund, businesses may either:

  • Keep detailed mileage records and fuel receipts for every single trip concerned,
  • Reclaim all the VAT and pay for a fuel scale charge.

Concerning fuel excise duties, companies can be eligible for:

  • Tax relief of a fraction of pump price depending on vehicle type and based on verified minimum mileage per vehicle per annum,
  • Tax exemption and therefore tax refund strictly business-related journeys.

 
It goes without saying that even in small companies, the burden of receipts collection and mileage verification required to claim tax refund or tax relief and VAT refund quickly becomes a daunting administrative task. If mistakes are made, the consequences after a tax inspection are dreadful. Choosing fuel cards in 2020 gives users reliable, monthly HMRC-compliant invoices with all detailed data required by HMRC to verify your organisation’s eligibility to tax refunds and exemptions.

Finally, there’s the issue of carbon taxes.

Some business fuel card issuers now propose to deal with fuel card-using companies’ carbon emission-related obligations by managing carbon offset programmes for them.  At the end of the year, they issue “Verified Carbon Reduction Certificates” which detail the overall CO2 emissions coming from the fleet of these organisations, which have been offset using the programme set up by the card issuer.

In order to make sure your business fully abides by the fuel expenses-related legal framework, fuel cards are your... trump cards. Find more information about fuel card benefits in our guide.

Discover more Fuel Cards questions :

Product/Service – frequently asked questions :

For more information on Fuel Cards go to our buying guide