HMRC has issued its 1 May 2024 to 30 April 2025 Road Fuel Scale Charges (RFSC)
RFSC
A scale charge is a way of accounting for output tax on road fuel bought by a business for cars which is then put to private use. If a business uses the scale charge, it can recover all the VAT charged on road fuel without having to identify specific business and private use. The charge is calculated on a flat rate basis according to the CO2 emissions of the car.
More on motoring expenses here.
A business will need to calculate the correct RFSC based on a car’s CO2 emissions, and the length of its VAT accounting period. This will be either one, 3, or 12 months. The CO2 emissions figure may be found here if the information is not available in the log book.
Alternatives to using RFSC
- use detailed mileage records to separate business mileage from private mileage and only claim for the business element
- claim no input tax
Business/private mileage calculation example:
- Total mileage: 4,290
- Business mileage: 3,165
- Cost of fuel: £368.
- Business mileage: £368 × (3,165 ÷ 4,290) = £271.49
- Claimable input tax: £271.49 × VAT fraction = £45.25