Car Allowance?? Best Way to Use it?

EllieA_3

rev_henry wrote: »

I don't know very much about this but I'm fairly sure its NOT taxed in that way. I think you'll be better off than that.

Have you actually had insurance quotes. It won't make that much difference I don't think. The real difference comes if you're going from a fiesta to a BMW M5 or something like that, which I don't think you are!

I have no idea how it's tax's I just made an assumption, I tried to google it but i didn't find anything decisive so i went with worst case.

I used confused.com to get some quotes, it was £2000 on a ford festa. I currently drive a 12 year old citroen saxo which cost me about £500 to insure last year, tbh i was really shocked i guess car insurance has gone up a fair bit this year!! :mad:

Sambucus_Nigra

rev_henry wrote: »

I don't know very much about this but I'm fairly sure its NOT taxed in that way. I think you'll be better off than that.

Have you actually had insurance quotes. It won't make that much difference I don't think. The real difference comes if you're going from a fiesta to a BMW M5 or something like that, which I don't think you are!

It will be taxed in the same way.


OP - you need to:
a - be offered the job first
b - take into account the miles you are likely to do, and the mileage rate for fuel and then come back with those figures and we can work out your best bet. Fuel allowance for me has already paid for the car I bought in Jan this year.....usually you get 40p/25p per mile...which does tend to offset things. So, even if at the start you are paying more out of your monthly wage to cover things, in the long run it does pay off in the end...

I'd beware of leasing a car though - there are many hidden expenses and the final 'over mileage' costs and any bumps/scrapes can mean a rather large bill at the end.

but I'd still try and negotiate the highest salary of course, that goes without saying....

EllieA_3

I have been offered the job, just going tommorrow to negotiate salary.. i will note to ask about petrol allowance though.

getmore4less

Check and double check the allowances and the tax possition.

Also check what the suitable car must be.

Find out how often you will be travelling so you can gauge the total income from mileage allowances.

Go for the most basic and economical thing that meets the criteria.
Low car tax and insurance are the most important since these are ongoing costs once you have the car if the job does not work out.

If you can fund running costs from milleage allowances the I would then look the personal loan based on the net income over a short a term as will allow you to buy something suitable.

£275pm will get you around £6k @ 10% over 2 years

Consider a 0% purchase or BT CC they would be cheaper.


Another angle if it is not that often or every week is to look at hire cars for a while till you save up with a good mileage allowance and a regular customer discounts the net cost can be quite low.

Inactive

Surely if a company demands that you have a " suitable " car, they should provide you with one?

What happens if you get in to a financial contract for a car and the job doesn't work out?

spiro

In addition to the car allowance which is designed to cover the extra cost of insurance etc you will get 15p/mile for 1401-2000cc petrol or 12p/mile for a 1401-2000cc diesel car (HMRC rates from 1/12). Therefore you should be aiming for a car that will cost you less than this in fuel to run.

LandyAndy

Inactive wrote: »

Surely if a company demands that you have a " suitable " car, they should provide you with one?

What happens if you get in to a financial contract for a car and the job doesn't work out?

'Suitable' often means 'reasonably reliable' rather than 'new'. The company has to be sure that the OP can get to her appointments.

I would suggest that the OP undertakes to update her car (if the company thinks that necessary) within, say, 6 months.

getmore4less

spiro wrote: »

In addition to the car allowance which is designed to cover the extra cost of insurance etc you will get 15p/mile for 1401-2000cc petrol or 12p/mile for a 1401-2000cc diesel car (HMRC rates from 1/12). Therefore you should be aiming for a car that will cost you less than this in fuel to run.

There has been no indication the OP will get anything for mileage yet.

If they do that can be tax free upto the levels if not then they can only claim th tax back on the expence so probanly on 3p or 6p on the higher rate.

Inactive

LandyAndy wrote: »

'Suitable' often means 'reasonably reliable' rather than 'new'. The company has to be sure that the OP can get to her appointments.

I would suggest that the OP undertakes to update her car (if the company thinks that necessary) within, say, 6 months.

Easy, they, the employers provide her with a car.

This seems like some cheapskate employer to me.;)

spiro

Inactive wrote: »

Easy, they, the employers provide her with a car.

This seems like some cheapskate employer to me.;)

For a lot of people the changes to income tax over the years around companies cars have made them worse off with a company car compared to a car allowance.