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Today in Fleet – Tuesday 27 June

All the key news in fleet…

Toy car on pile of money

According to Alphabet, the consultation could have major impacts on fleet, travel and subsistence policies.

Last call for comments for expenses consultation

Alphabet is urging fleets to add their views to an HMRC consultation that questions whether flat rate expenses such as Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) are still appropriate.

Now open to comments until 11:45pm on 10 July, the consultation is partly designed to help HM Treasury understand why tax relief claims rose by 25% to £800m per year between 2010 and 2015, and according to Alphabet, could see a proposal to abolish tax allowances on travel and subsistence expenses revived after first being mooted by the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) in 2014 (see OTS report here).

Clive Buhagiar, head of pricing and planning, commented: “If the OTS recommendation is adopted after the consultation period, the shock would be profound. From a fleet perspective, all drivers would want to be reimbursed for fuel and mileage at the full-scale rates since they could no longer claim tax relief if paid less. It would also entail more administration for businesses because employees would take care to put every scrap of travel costs through the expenses process, knowing that they would not be able to claim tax relief on non-reimbursed costs at the end of the tax year.

“Get in touch, quickly; this threatens to bring major disruption to corporate expenses. Time is running out.”

David Brennan, CEO of Nexus

David Brennan, CEO of Nexus

Rexel signs up Nexus for exclusive rental deal

The UK arm of global electrical distributor Rexel has awarded Nexus Vehicle Rental an exclusive deal to deliver all its rental requirements.

The result of a competitive tender, the deal will see Nexus provide short-term rentals to cover maintenance of core fleet, medium term to cope with fluctuations in work volume and longer-term, pre-lease rentals for new employees joining the business.

Nexus will also help Rexel introduce a much more stringent approval process for rentals for the firm’s 3,000 employees through the Nexus IRIS IT platform.

tyres

A total of 14% of UK drivers expect to buy one or more part-worn tyres within the next 12 months, with young drivers the worst offenders.

Drivers still turning to used tyres despite road risks

One in seven (14%) of drivers plan to buy one or more used tyres within the next 12 months, with many thinking they’re as safe as new tyres.

The research by AA Tyres finds that over half (55%) of motorists think new tyres are too expensive and 10% think used tyres are better value for money.

Mark Shankland, AA Tyres managing director, said: “Used tyres may seem like an easy way of saving money, but they can very quickly become dangerous to drive on – and that can be an incredibly expensive mistake to make. After all, the penalty for driving with tyres below the legal tread depth in the UK can cost you £2,500 and three points per tyre. With a number of serious accidents attributed to faulty tyres over the last few years, it is simply not worth the risk to make a quick saving.”

For more of the latest industry news, click here.

Natalie Middleton

Natalie has worked as a fleet journalist for over 20 years, previously as assistant editor on the former Company Car magazine before joining Fleet World in 2006. Prior to this, she worked on a range of B2B titles, including Insurance Age and Insurance Day.