Fleet managers and drivers claiming for business mileage should use digital technology to meet the stringent checks of an HMRC audit, says ABAX.

Provisional figures released by the HMRC this month showed 960,000 employees paid benefit-in-kind tax on a company car in 2015/16 – a five-year high.

The mileage capture and telematics company says that with more employees using company vehicles, coupled with the Government continuing to target reducing tax evasion and serious fraud, it will mean an increase in the number of checks to businesses.

Recent surveys carried out by ABAX show revealed that 56% of employees who drive a car for business purposes are unaware of the tax regime for reclaiming business mileage.

Chris Miller, UK chief executive of ABAX, said: “The HMRC is clamping down even more on fraud and tax evasion and the outcome of this is that more businesses will receive checks.

“We have seen that failure to comply with HMRC standards has seen businesses and individuals collect five-figure penalties from the tax authorities. This has a significant impact on a company and can be easily resolved with digital technology.

“Our experience shows that there are fleet operations out there who are managing their mileage records manually and this is time consuming with the potential for inaccuracies to made which show in an audit.

“Now is the time to make sure you review your vehicle mileage bookkeeping processes and ensure you are fully compliant. An easy, cost-effective solution is to use digital vehicle technology, such as ABAX Triplog, with your vehicle fleet."