Clarification on car mileage

In reply to the letter from M Harrison ("Board payment is tax on car mileage" 26 March, page 26), I can confirm that the National Housing Federation is working with a small group of registered social landlords to clarify and resolve problems surrounding board member payment.

In particular, we will be refining the model agreement for board member services, providing guidance for executives on boards, and working on the problem of deemed payments for board members on benefits.

As far as tax is concerned, tax and National Insurance are usually payable on journeys between home and an association's offices.

But let's put tax on car mileage in context: if a board member pays basic-rate tax and receives a mileage rate of 40p per mile, he or she would have to travel nearly 19,000 miles a year to wipe out the net pay from a remuneration of £3000. That's either a very long journey or an awful lot of meetings.

The NHF provides guidance on tax and National Insurance in its publication To Pay or Not To Pay, but circumstances vary and RSLs should take advice from the Inland Revenue if they are in any doubt.