Reply to: go green - cheap bmw with 100% capital allowance?

[Hiram King Of Tyre]

Probably the Navara. It appears to be the best of the bunch. At the moment I use a privately owned motorhome. I claim the 40p per mile plus site fees gas etc. I use it as both a temporary office and hotel. The trouble is that I take all the wear & tear without getting anything back. I was thinking about the company buying a caravan and a pickup. The tax on the pickup is low. However, once the caravan is sited, I don't need to drive around in a gas guzzler. It would be much greener to use my private car (and claim 40/25p) when the "business need" isn't there.....

[adder]

That's cool..... Tax on a pickup is cheap though.

Is that documented anywhere? I need something to quote as the accountant sees it different...

sorry didn't ask - give them a ring on 0845 714 3143
what's your accountant saying?
PS what pickup u looking at? aren't they sh!te to drive!?

[Hiram King Of Tyre]

Good news Hiram!
HMRC hotline says you can still use a private car for business use, even if you've got a company car. (she says obviously you'll still be paying tax on the company motor - yeah, yeah)

That's cool..... Tax on a pickup is cheap though.

Is that documented anywhere? I need something to quote as the accountant sees it different...

[adder]

If you have a company car (Or van/pickup), does that preclude you from still using a private car and claiming 40p/25p?

Good news Hiram!
HMRC hotline says you can still use a private car for business use, even if you've got a company car. (she says obviously you'll still be paying tax on the company motor - yeah, yeah)

[oxtailsoup]

Anyway, mucho respect if u do it FiveTimes a night

We've won it Five Times, we've won it Five Times, in Istanbul we won it Five Times.

[dude69]

Dude you seem well clued up on the car thing.

Is there any advantage in doing a "lease" through the business ?

The way I look at it is that if I lease a car and My Ltd co pays for it - then @ say £300 I pay £3600 which is £3600 I don't pay CT on - net gain = £720.

No there would be no sense in doing that on a low CO2 car. The point of a lease is that it's an expense, and hence chargeable to CT, whereas a capital purchase has to be claimed over several years. But with a 100% first year allowance on these cars, there's no sense form that point of view in doing it.

The only way it makes sense is purely on a hassle/TCO equation. I.e. does costs of lease come to less than the cost of 3 years' depreciation? Generally the answer should be no, as they obviously need to make a profit, but they can get better discounts than you. I would say that £300/month over 3 years is £10,800, which seems quite a lot really.

If you do it on an outright purchase basically just consider the purchase price - value @ Year 3 (or whenver you want to sell), as this will effectively be the amount relieved (minus 3 years' interest on the difference.

If I only needed a car for say 12 months before I decide what to buy with all the rest of my money - is this a better option that buying a used car with my personal [taxed ] income ?

Used cars are very cheap, you can get a very serviceable motor for a few hundred pounds. This will beat any tax savings on a £15k+ car.

[Bluebird]

I'll give you the fuel consumption, but the insurance costs is the same, the VW cheaper to service (because older and not a BMW), and my costs were based on selling BMW at 5 years, which leaves you with nothing, whereas you'd still have an 8-year-old Passat.

Anyway, as I said, it is clearly cheaper to buy a <120g CO2 car through your company than personally. BUT, that assumes (a) that you want a small car, and (b) that you want a new car. A used <120g CO2 car will still work out cheaper.

So yes, if you want a <120g CO2 car buy it through the company.

Dude you seem well clued up on the car thing.

Is there any advantage in doing a "lease" through the business ?

The way I look at it is that if I lease a car and My Ltd co pays for it - then @ say £300 I pay £3600 which is £3600 I don't pay CT on - net gain = £720.

I don't pay any maintenance, or cartax etc [ I think ], I can still claim petrol money [ ? ] and my asset doesn't depreciate [ as I haven't got one ].

If I only needed a car for say 12 months before I decide what to buy with all the rest of my money - is this a better option that buying a used car with my personal [taxed ] income ?

[dude69]

Dude, I appreciate your effort with the figures but this is nowhere near methinks....
Look, MYCO has £20K
option a - buy the bimmer
option b - take the £12k cash, buy the passat taxi, buy breakdown cover, buy an iphone (to phone the AA), buy booze, new clothes and a few loose women (cos we can't pull them in a passat)....
Now over 3 years we each do 10k miles, you make £3k/year (diff between 40p and 10p/mile)
Yes I have a BIK to pay but that is offset by your insurance costs, servicing, higher fuel consumption etc etc
You 'make' £9k over 3 years but your taxi is only worth £3k at this stage and the bimmer is worth £12k, a difference of £9k!!! wey hey!!! U convinced yet?

I'll give you the fuel consumption, but the insurance costs is the same, the VW cheaper to service (because older and not a BMW), and my costs were based on selling BMW at 5 years, which leaves you with nothing, whereas you'd still have an 8-year-old Passat.

Anyway, as I said, it is clearly cheaper to buy a <120g CO2 car through your company than personally. BUT, that assumes (a) that you want a small car, and (b) that you want a new car. A used <120g CO2 car will still work out cheaper.

So yes, if you want a <120g CO2 car buy it through the company.

[Hiram King Of Tyre]

Hiram, remember u can still claim 13p/10p a mile in a company car for petrol/diesel.....
Would be interested in an accountant giving a defo answer to this question though...
ACCOUNTANTS where are u!!???

Yeah sure but if a pickup only does 25mpg, I'd be better off doing miles in a private car at 40p per mile. Hence the question: If I had a company pickup for when I needed it, would I be expected by HMRC to do all business miles in that or could I use a private car (40mpg, and greener) and still claim the 40p?

[adder]

Dude, I think you are deluded if you think a 118d is going to help you impress the women...

i never said that, i said you *definitely* wouldn't in a passat ;-)
maybe you don't understand trends and fashion, but minis, 1 series et al hold their value very well cos young birds love em!
Anyway, mucho respect if u do it FiveTimes a night

Hiram, remember u can still claim 13p/10p a mile in a company car for petrol/diesel.....
Would be interested in an accountant giving a defo answer to this question though...
ACCOUNTANTS where are u!!???

[FiveTimes]

Dude, I appreciate your effort with the figures but this is nowhere near methinks....
option b - take the £12k cash, buy the passat taxi, buy breakdown cover, buy an iphone (to phone the AA), buy booze, new clothes and a few loose women (cos we can't pull them in a passat)....

Dude, I think you are deluded if you think a 118d is going to help you impress the women...

[Hiram King Of Tyre]

If you have a company car (Or van/pickup), does that preclude you from still using a private car and claiming 40p/25p?

[Ruprect]

Most of that flew over my head. Can anyone make it simpler? I wouldn't mind a new car...

[adder]

you've still paid £10k for ownership.

Dude, I appreciate your effort with the figures but this is nowhere near methinks....
Look, MYCO has £20K
option a - buy the bimmer
option b - take the £12k cash, buy the passat taxi, buy breakdown cover, buy an iphone (to phone the AA), buy booze, new clothes and a few loose women (cos we can't pull them in a passat)....
Now over 3 years we each do 10k miles, you make £3k/year (diff between 40p and 10p/mile)
Yes I have a BIK to pay but that is offset by your insurance costs, servicing, higher fuel consumption etc etc
You 'make' £9k over 3 years but your taxi is only worth £3k at this stage and the bimmer is worth £12k, a difference of £9k!!! wey hey!!! U convinced yet?

[Bear]

So I'd rather buy a nicer used car for the same money, e.g., http://www.cargiant.co.uk/cars/detail.asp?Id=350982