New van for business- very confused??

kw899899

Hi i bought a new van a few months ago for the sole purpose of the business (pet sitting/ dog /walking). Me and my other half share another car that we use for pleasure. My question is this, can i put down the full 1.598 pounds that it cost me to buy it? also very confused about this petrol saga. i use this van solely for busines and use around £30 fuel a week, can i claim all of this as well as the running costs/ repairs. I dont understand about this mileage thingy me bob! help!!

any help appreciated.

Rolo_Tomasi

With any vehicle you can choose how to claim tax relief on the expenses - either the running costs or the mileage thingy me bob. Whichever is best for you depends on the number of business miles you are likely to do each year.

If you claim mileage then the amount is 40p per business mile for the 1st 10,000 miles in a year and 25p for any excess miles. You then could not also include the cost of the van or its running costs (fuel, insurance etc).

The alternative is to keep a record of the total costs of the van. In your first year you can claim a deduction for the cost of the van (as a capital allowance) and the day to day running costs. Each subsequent year you can claim the running costs.

You need to do the maths to work our which is best for you.

kw899899

i dont understand how oyu can proove that you say drove 7,000 miles in your car?

so can i claim a percentage of the amount that the van cost this year, and the full amount of fuel i use (i think around £100 a month) plus all the insurance and repairs etc?

kw899899

hi there, many thanks for your reply. i sort of understand what you are saying, although ithink an accountant may be in need:o so if i went down the 40p per mile route, am i right in saying that i cant claim any of the others, even as capital expenses?? i am in my first year of trading and have so far just been recording everthing down, repairs, tax, insurance on the van etc. thinking that i could claim them all back, and now realising that it might not be that simple.:mad:

i own a pet sitting business, you see, so my van although not specially adapted, is specifically for that business. Me and my other half share another car that we use for social purposes which is actually my car anyway. Do you think that this would be acceptable or do you think that i should maybe split the mileage 90/10 or 80/20 just to avoid suspicion??
also if i just went for the 40p milleage way of doing it, how do i record that on my monthly balance sheet? at the moment i just include all my fuel costs and deduct them that from my profits. would i have to keep a montly account of my business miles? or is it normal to just do it annually whilst keeping all the recepits?

many thanks for your great info

sandraroffey

a vehcile for business is a vehcile for business. your own car is a personal thing and just doesnt come into the equation.

when we had a business, we always claimed the cost of a vehicle (providing its for business only), plus all repairs, maintenance, tyres etc, tax and insurance. every year we also got a tax allowance for depreciation.

you must be very definate about keeping every single little receipt.

chrisy_c

hi,i am self employed. i use my (old) van to travel to & from work, & from job to job.
i do around 35k miles per year. can i claim the fuel allowance per mile? i use the van as a work van only.
thanks for any help on this.

John_Pierpoint

As long as the new van is used for work only you can claim it all.
I am a bit surprised at how profitable the dog sitting/walking business seems to be.
Don't be tempted to use if for the weekly supermarket shop; there are rumours now that vans are being treated more like cars, that sometimes the registration numbers get checked in supermarket car parks.:eek: