To flat vat rate or not to flat vat rate

[Alan @ BroomeAffinity]

I was wondering whether I could class the lease as for my business or transfer the agreement from being a personal one to one for the company somehow.

The information I've read about leases and company cars show it's a bit of a minefield so I accept the lease may have to stay a personal one and may not be able to form any part of the company.

Not sure what people's experience on this forum is with regards that though?

Almost certainly you won't be able to transfer it and you 100% won't be able to it as business. And even then it's going to be a company car which will kill you for tax and nic. Even if it's only used for business.

Get an accountant. If you want to pinch pennies do it somewhere else in your budget. And remember all this free advice when you're picking one. [emoji3]

[teapot418]

Assuming vat inclusive turnover is approx £46,800 then 2% would be £936. Fuel alone would make up a fair chunk of that or am I missing something?

Yes, the 2% has to be 'goods', and stuff you'd normally buy for your business is mostly excluded.

InTouch have a readable guide at: https://www.intouchaccounting.com/re...t-legislation/

The 12% is for other business support services as my role seemed to come under neither consultancy nor financial services.

What is it you do?

[SeanT]

Get and register for flat rate at those rates, take advantage of the year one discount and worry about it after that (even on 15.5 instead of 16.5 it's not too bad), and for anything car related the answer is almost always 45p a mile. Don't forget anything VAT-able that you incurred before registering, and to make sure that any capital purchases are sufficiently costly thereafter (e.g., do you need a new phone and monitor to go with that new laptop?)

[northernladuk]

Don't forget to search the forums for stuff around leases and the like as it's highly likely it's been asked and answered before.

http://forums.contractoruk.com/showthread.php?t=58311

[SouthernManc78]

When I was first considering contracting I read all the guides on this website

It helped me to understand a lot of elements so I had a bit of a clue what I was letting myself in for. I also bought his book but that is just a lot of his guides out into a book format for easy reference.

If you don't have a lot of cash to support unexpected costs and not sure what you'll be doing after the 6 month contract ends then perhaps using an umbrella might be a better option?

Using a limited company is the route to more tax savings of course but you have to be in it for the long haul

[eek]

When I was first considering contracting I read all the guides on this website

It helped me to understand a lot of elements so I had a bit of a clue what I was letting myself in for. I also bought his book but that is just a lot of his guides out into a book format for easy reference.

If you don't have a lot of cash to support unexpected costs and not sure what you'll be doing after the 6 month contract ends then perhaps using an umbrella might be a better option?

Using a limited company is the route to more tax savings of course but you have to be in it for the long haul

The problem with an umbrella in this circumstance is that you cannot claim mileage which sounds essential in this case. Oh and the answer as everyone has stated here is you claim 45p a mile and use that to cover your mileage costs...

I'm also going to take a step back here and ask a different question -

This contract isn't for a public sector client is it?