Company Van parked at home

stevo84_2

Hi all,

Up until a few weeks ago i used my own vehicle for work. They have now gotten me a works van that usually only i drive. The vehicle is parked at my home address as I usually travel from home direct to jobs. I do not use the van for private use, it is simply parked at my home for ease to save me travelling the 15 minutes to the office and back every day.

Is this going to pose me a problem with the inland revenue or is this ok? Its technically a pool van but im usually the only engineer on call so I use it 90% of the time.

Any input will be very much appreciated,
All the best,

Steve

Debt_Free_Chick

stevo84 wrote:

I do not use the van for private use, it is simply parked at my home for ease to save me travelling the 15 minutes to the office and back every day.

But travelling to and from your normal place of work is private use.

Is this going to pose me a problem with the inland revenue or is this ok? Its technically a pool van but im usually the only engineer on call so I use it 90% of the time.

Actual private use is not the issue. The vehicle only has to be available for private use and you will be taxed on it. If you chose to leave the vehicle at work, you would still be taxed for private use as the vehicle is available to you.

I guess you are saving on the cost of owning & running a vehicle, but having to pay tax instead. Whether or not this is a good deal really depends on the numbers involved.

jennifernil

If the OP still has his own car for private use then he is not really saving on the cost of running a vehicle.
But as said, the journey to work is private use so HMRC are likely to want to tax you on this vehicle.
If it is to be treated as a "pool van" then it has to be available for others to use, which means it must be kept at the office, not at your home.

Pennywise

The rules are different for vans as opposed to cars which I think the other posters are referring to.

If you have a company van, you won't suffer the taxable benefit in kind, even if you take the van home at night, as long as your private mileage is insignificant. Normally home to work would be classed as private mileage, but this is exempted in the case of a company van. Also, other "private" journeys which are ignored would be (as per HMRC guidance notes) a once-per-year trip to the local tip to dump private refuse, stopping off en-route to work to pick up a newspaper, and the occasional trip to a doctor/dentist etc.

So as long as you don't use the van regularly to go to the pub, go shopping, go on holiday, help mates to move house, or go to the tip every week, you are OK and won't suffer the taxable benefit in kind.

Of course, things may be different if you are trying to be clever by having something like a crewcab or Range Rover which is really a car, but may be defined as a van - HMRC are more likely to look into those rather than a true works tranny van full of tools/goods.

matimage

As a kind of related question to this, I have a problem near me with lots of work vans (even a huge flatbed pickup) being parked in my road. They block pavements etc.
Are there rules on parking industrial vehicles in residential areas? Does it depend on the local council?
Cheers

quidsin

I have a company as as i'm a mobile engineer, after talking to the inland revenue i had to send a letter to our HR department saying i dont use the van for private use, the HR dept, as i've got my own car. had to change some tax form on the status of their company vehicles.
Here is a fact sheet 2005/2006 from the inland revenue- http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vans/van-facts.htm

mrbadexample

matimage wrote:

As a kind of related question to this, I have a problem near me with lots of work vans (even a huge flatbed pickup) being parked in my road. They block pavements etc.
Are there rules on parking industrial vehicles in residential areas? Does it depend on the local council?
Cheers

Not the council so much as the size of the vehicle. If a goods vehicle has a maximum permitted gross weight of over 3500kg then it is (almost always) subject to operator licencing. If so, it should usually be kept at the nominated operating centre (i.e. not in your road). 3500kg or less, and they can park pretty much anywhere.

Firstly you need to know the size of the vehicle. If it's a Transit or similar (bear in mind they make quite large flatbeds), it is almost certainly 3500kg or less. Any bigger than that, have a look in the windscreen by the tax disc. Is there another (orange, blue or green) disc? If so it should state the name of the operator and the licence number.

Once you have the operator's name, you can then find out where they are and write and ask them to stop parking it in a residential area. Mention that if it continues you will notify the Traffic Commissioner. That should sort it. :cool:

Tom_Jones

Well it's been a nightmare today for my buisness, I run 12 newish Peugeot Expert vans and most of my employees who drive the vans have recieved tax codes with a £3000 per year van benefit deducted, now most of them do not use them for much private use as the fuel bills are not excessive.

How much extra will they be taxed (around £660 per annum is my accountants guess), and if they put in writing to me they DO NOT use the van for private use will they be exempt from this tax if I inform the Inland revenue of this ?

I've got most of the guys asking for a pay rise to cover the increase in tax.

I personally think it's disgusting that the IR are making such a huge rise in the van benefit this year, and it's yet another tax on the working man.

Hoddie_2

I personally think it's disgusting that the IR are making such a huge rise in the van benefit this year, and it's yet another tax on the working man.

The rise is purely in response to those who have abused the low cost of van benefit. A minority spotted a loophole in the van benefit regulations, choosing 6-seater dual cab pick-ups (the top notch ones that will never see a day's work) and declaring them as a van (500) rather than a company car (8,000 plus fuel benefit). Once again a small minority spoil it for the many.

Regards your issue, if the private use can be considered as insignificant (ie home and back), and you're willing to say so in writing on behalf of your employees, there won't be any van benefit at all. Simply give each employee a letter stating this, and tell them to send it to the tax office with their own covering letter requesting the van benefit be removed.

stevo84_2

thanks all for your posts. This has been an eye opener!

more detail on my situation. I have recently been toying with the idea of getting rid of the car as I have recently purchased a house and could do with saving the money for 6 months or so. I approached work about this and they said I needed a vehicle to do my job and were being arsey. In the end they decided to get a van and allow me to use it to get from home to work and vice versa (bearing in mind most of my trips are from home to a job somewhere in the UK and back) on the basis that i paid the insurance, which i agreed. (i paid the insurance of £680)

The van will not be used for any excessive private use (I have my cycle and lodger for that) except like if pennywise mentioned a trip to the tip. I guess from the from the factsheet that quidsin linked to that even if the IR see fit to tax me the insurance I paid will outweigh the £660 anyhow?

Thanks again all,

Stevo

sjacb36

Hoddie wrote:

The rise is purely in response to those who have abused the low cost of van benefit. A minority spotted a loophole in the van benefit regulations, choosing 6-seater dual cab pick-ups (the top notch ones that will never see a day's work) and declaring them as a van (500) rather than a company car (8,000 plus fuel benefit). Once again a small minority spoil it for the many.

Regards your issue, if the private use can be considered as insignificant (ie home and back), and you're willing to say so in writing on behalf of your employees, there won't be any van benefit at all. Simply give each employee a letter stating this, and tell them to send it to the tax office with their own covering letter requesting the van benefit be removed.

I received new paye coding notice in the post today. Have to say that I as shocked with the raise from £500 to £3000.

My question is - would the van benefit still by £3000 if the van is for insignificant use and a letter send to tax office as suggested above? Found this on another website:-

'From April 2007, the scale charge for unrestricted private use will increase to £3,000, whatever the age of the van. An additional fuel scale charge of £500 will apply where fuel is provided for private mileage.'

Any thoughts appreciated please (preferably in simple terms lol!!)

Thanks