Reply to: Changing travel arrangements in light of the proposed expenses rule.

[Lightwave]

It's also less efficient when your next contract is either abroad or within pushbike range.
But if you want a nice car anyway, so be it.

What about a company banger?
Van?

[BolshieBastard]

As with any lease, there's hidden costs when the vehicle is returned.

Although the industry says you wont be charged for 'fair wear and tear, people need to be very careful over this. FWT means no scratch more than 20mm over the whole vehicle. It means no more than about 30 sub 20mm scratches over the whole car. It means that out of sight scratches and scrapes such as those underneath the front or rear splitters or side skirst are chargeable for repair. It means if the car's tyres do not have a full tread over the whole of the tyre surface (not 75% of the surface as required by the MOT) you be charged for a new tyre. And, because its not safe to put a single new tyre on one axle, that'll be 4 new boots thank you very much.

Eccess mileage charge will be small change compared to the charges applied on the vehicle's return if you fall foul of any of the above.

Even if you have a PCP, you are better trading the car or even keeping it rather than hand it back and getting shafted as a lot of people have found out.

[expat]

Leasing a company vehicle is less attractive for those of us who fly!

I bought the airline. It seemed ..... neater.

[LondonManc]

Not when the M6 was closed like it was last night Grrrrrr...

A1 was nice and quiet

[kevpuk]

Hhhmmm, did briefly consider looking into a Model S when I bought my car last December, but really couldn't make the numbers work 'sufficiently'. Coupled with undoubted range anxiety - would need approx. 270-300/week with current gig, and not being completely confident about charging......meant it was just a thought.
That all said, come the revolution, will certainly look again in around 1.5-2yrs time when I move from current car.

[northernladuk]

So that gets you to London....

Not when the M6 was closed like it was last night Grrrrrr...

[LondonManc]

Tesla Model S is the answer, low BIK cos its electric, and very low running costs for charging from home. 300 mile range.

I think I will hang on for the Tesla model 3 they are bringing out in a couple of years though, cos I;m not quite at model S (exec) level yet!

So that gets you to London....

[Danglekt]

Tesla Model S is the answer, low BIK cos its electric, and very low running costs for charging from home. 300 mile range.

I think I will hang on for the Tesla model 3 they are bringing out in a couple of years though, cos I;m not quite at model S (exec) level yet!

[LondonManc]

Obviously circumstances will be different but anyone from oop norf continuing to do a 450mile/week round trip to El Vibrante will have different options, such as:
- Own car, private mileage
- Company car model, massive mileage premium on car rental price
- Train
- Flight (Heathrow and maybe Gatwick only)

Any other ideas?

[ContrataxLtd]

When the situation is resolved and we know what regime we have to work with, then those of us that do a fair bit of T&S expensing will have to consider our options carefully.
Leasing a car isn't something I'd even considered as it's been such a bad option for years, maybe it will be worth it in the long run.
Accommodation costs are going to be at least as much of a concern as travel.

This hits the nail on the head. As soon as the situation is resolved options can then be planned for. I for one will be looking at some general situations so that all my clients can be advised of ways to possibly mitigate any changes that happen so I'm sure that you'll have plenty of options posted on here to consider once things get confirmed either way.

Martin
Contratax Ltd

[TykeMerc]

When the situation is resolved and we know what regime we have to work with, then those of us that do a fair bit of T&S expensing will have to consider our options carefully.
Leasing a car isn't something I'd even considered as it's been such a bad option for years, maybe it will be worth it in the long run.
Accommodation costs are going to be at least as much of a concern as travel.

[SimonMac]

Have you factored in the increase in BIK rates over the next few years? The lowest 5 Series I can find is 109 g/km, this year that is 19% but will be 25% by 2019/2020

https://www.theaa.com/resources/Docu...bik-2014on.pdf

[ContrataxLtd]

Hi DaveB

If the proposed new rules come in then company cars may well be a good way to go, depending on personal situation of course. Those with a very high business mileage would normally be the ones that this would potentially help as they'd be 'missing out' on a large mileage claim otherwise.

You have to be careful about working out the BIK costs though because generally expensive cars will have quite a large BIK value which is not only taxed at your marginal rate but also uses up some of your basic rate band in which dividends would have been taxable at 7.5% (assuming no changes to divi tax). Another consideration here is that you could potentially drop your salary down to avoid some tax on the BIK.

The standard BIK calculators on car websites aren't generally detailed enough to give you a comprehensive breakdown so it's definitely one for your accountant to crunch some numbers on if the proposed changes do come in.

Martin
Contratax Ltd

[northernladuk]

There are a few good calculators out there for company cars. There is one on the Gov website and one on comcar. CO. UK goes in to a lot of detail. I also had a quick play changing the mileage on a lease site and it makes quite a difference to price. Just saying it might be worth considering if you are looking at the whole picture.

[pr1]

are you purely thinking about money in your pocket per year, or money spent by you/yourco combined?

i think your plan will be better for the former but worse for the latter