Company Fuel Card and Own car usage

[Deviiance]

HI

I am using a company provided fuel card and my own car for business use.

My question to you lovely people is if I am using my own personal vehicle but the company pays for the petrol (PVT and business), can I claim wear and tear on the business usage? I have an up to date logbook and fleet statement for my vehicle from their petrol card to indicate millage of each refill.

The lady at SARS said that I can only claim if I had a travel allowance allocated to my IRP5, but when speaking to my HR department they have advised me that they pay for the petrol (which I can’t claim for) but I can claim wear and tear.

Where do I do this on my tax return if there is no allocation done under my IRP5 deductions (This area is greyed out with no amounts).

[Dave A]

Knowing you're in sales (from a discussion elsewhere) - does more than 50% of your earnings come from commissions?

[Deviiance]

HI Dave

No it does not. Most of my income is salary based. The commission is an extra benefit.

[Dave A]

The lady at SARS said that I can only claim if I had a travel allowance allocated to my IRP5

Then I'm afraid that is correct. The most efficient strategy then is to prevail on the company to allocate some of your basic to a vehicle allowance.

[JaysonG30]

Hi guys

I have a questions. I work in a sales role where my employment contract says the following:

‘MOTOR VEHICLE
It is a condition of employment that the employee has a suitable, reliable motor vehicle which he/she will be required to use for work purposes. The employer shall bear the cost of work-related fuel usage.’

Basically they give me a R2500 Petrol allowance but do not pay anything else towards my personal vehicle. No maintenance per km.

Now what’s happening is that some people have been abusing the system and using the fuel allowance for person travel (using the petrol card for personal travel to work and home etc.).

My employer is now going to deduct R1.50 per km travelled between work and home off my salary. For example I live 30km from work so it is a round trip of 60km per day. This means that my employer will deduct R90 per day off my salary. R 90 times 21 working days (average monthly) = R 1 890 per month deducted off my salary.

My car has a 1000cc engine and costs me about R1 per km. They are keeping the R2500 fuel allowance in place. The fuel allowance/card is a separate entity and not reflected on my pay slip or contractual agreement. There is also no compensation for the maintenance on my vehicle.

Am I able to take them to the CCMA? I feel that there must be some kind of legal action that I can take.

Thanks in advance.

[Dave A]

An employer may not unilaterally change your conditions of employment - particularly to reduce remuneration. Take it up with your employer first as there may have been a legitimate consultation process that you are not aware of, or perhaps the employer hasn't properly thought the matter through.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome and you run out of options to tackle the issue within the company, by all means approach the CCMA. Helping to resolve such matters between employer and employee is part of why the CCMA exists.