Company Car advice please...

Bean_Counter

joeyvicks wrote: »

'Normally' site based but currently doing a lot of work from the office as the jobs that i'm currently looking after a £250k and below and dont warrant much site based attention.
In the past i have been permanently site based, but this was for my former company that went bust. Think its going to have to be the company car with card option unfortunately

You should still have a look at the link to make sure that you are claiming for all the business mile that you are entitled to.

It is also worth crunching the numbers to see if you are better of paying back your own private fuel and avoiding the fuel benefit in kind charge, especially if you are near the 40% tax band. We did this exercise a few months back and many of our guys turned out to be significantly better off following doing this, as the fuel multiplier used to calculate this had risen significantly in the last few years.

joeyvicks

but my problem is i'm currently doing alot of private miles as stated above and im also concerned that because of my high mileage (around 30k a year) i need something thats gonna run well and not need loads of work doing to it

inmypocketnottheirs

FWIW Joey, just so you know I do follow my own advice, I ran an 02 Mondeo Diesel Auto from 55000 to 115000 in 18 months on the basis I described above. I then took the opportunity to replace with a newer, lower mileage, 1 owner Volvo for about £8k (and pay £35 a month for an extended warranty for piece of mind from www.warrantydirect.co.uk).

Unless it was absolutely forced on me and I had no other choice, there is no way whatsoever that I would ever have a company car again. They are not a perk, just an expensive one.

P.S. For the record also, I run my own limited company, and I could if I wished have a company car. However, I would then be taxed on it in exactly the same way that any employee would. Hence I make my decision purely on financial logic and not because I can't have a company car! Hope that makes sense!

joeyvicks

good advice cheers. I'm looking then at a VW Golf with about 40k on the clock. I should get a good 2 or 3 years out of that shouldn't i?

inmypocketnottheirs

joeyvicks wrote: »

good advice cheers. I'm looking then at a VW Golf with about 40k on the clock. I should get a good 2 or 3 years out of that shouldn't i?

In honesty any diesel (I'm a confirmed diesel head) with 40k and you know the history should give another 2-3 years of 30k p.a. Just make sure it's serviced on schedule. I don't use a main dealer, as by the time I'm ready to change the mileage outweighs the benefit of a service history.

joeyvicks

after reading through the document it appears i can claim for even fewer miles than i originally thought?

In the past when involved with big projects i have based myself on site, which by the sounds of it means that this then becomes a permanent workplace because i am spending more than 40% of my time there!?

what my situation is at the moment is the first few months with this company i worked at there office in Huntingdon which from home is a 240 mile round trip, in my contract it states the Boston office is my place of work, i am now based at this office in boston and currently only have small jobs ongoing that i visit 1 day a week. A new job is starting up in Nottingham next week which i will visit twice a week for the 2 months it is running. What would be classed as private and business out of these journeys??

inmypocketnottheirs

I would clarify with your employer.

Bean_Counter

joeyvicks wrote: »

In the past when involved with big projects i have based myself on site, which by the sounds of it means that this then becomes a permanent workplace because i am spending more than 40% of my time there!?

what my situation is at the moment is the first few months with this company i worked at there office in Huntingdon which from home is a 240 mile round trip, in my contract it states the Boston office is my place of work, i am now based at this office in boston and currently only have small jobs ongoing that i visit 1 day a week. A new job is starting up in Nottingham next week which i will visit twice a week for the 2 months it is running. What would be classed as private and business out of these journeys??

I would have thought that all your travel from home to the Boston office is ordinary commute and hence private and can not be claimed for. The travel to Huntingdon office and Nottingham would be classed as business travel as they are temporary work places and hence travel from home to these places can be claimed as business travel.

joeyvicks

sod it i'm going to buy a 2007 VW Golf with 42k on the clock. Hopefully it'll run ok and i'll get 2/3 years out of it (50/60k miles)

joeyvicks

if there's a risk that from time to time during the year i'm doing a fair few private miles is my best option claiming the higher allowance with lower ppm then claiming back the tax on the difference between my ppm and inland revenue's?