Vehicle Leasing (Business VS Private)

alexmoneysaver1

Hi Everyone,

I am switching over from being a T/A to a LTD company with VAT registration in the next month. Having a bit of a problem trying to work out what's most cost/tax efficient for car leasing. I am looking to sell my current car and get hold of something a little more reliable, so it makes sense for me personally to lease rather than to bury all capital in buying a car.

Here are the details as follows;

Leasing (Personal)
I can lease the car I am after for £269 a month including VAT on a personal lease basis only.

Leasing (Business)
I can lease the car I am after for £299 excluding VAT a month on a business lease basis only.

Details:
I've been looking into the tax on these vehicles if taken out through a ltd company and I can see the government takes this kind of leasing as a bonus as such hence the less green your car is the more tax you pay.

The thing I cannot work out is which one is best? If I go business then I am lumped with a massive tax bill on the car as the residual value is quite high and the Co2 emissions are about 158g/km

Now if I go private, can I only claim mileage and not claim the payments? Someone please help thank you in advance for your time.

Savvy_Sue

What does your accountant say? Even if you haven't had one up to now, it's often worth using one (ie you'll save money) when you are running a Ltd Co.

paddyrg

I don't get why you should be heavily penalised for leasing as a company than as an individual? Have you tried the self-styled 'mental oriental' lingscars.com, where as I recall the only cost difference was whether the prices were shown inc or ex-VAT.