Van expenses for business

tom78

Hi I was hoping people could help me?

I am looking to get a business loan or lease for a van for my 2 year old business,

I have some questions in regards to tax/expenses - what am I entitled to claim back on the van? is it standard fuel 0.45p per mile? can I claim back any of the monthly loan/lease as a expense ?

any help appreciated a bit of a minefield.

Tom

DUTR

tom78 wrote: »

Hi I was hoping people could help me?

I am looking to get a business loan or lease for a van for my 2 year old business,

I have some questions in regards to tax/expenses - what am I entitled to claim back on the van? is it standard fuel 0.45p per mile? can I claim back any of the monthly loan/lease as a expense ?

any help appreciated a bit of a minefield.

Tom

Isn't that one better for your accountant to resolve?

tom78

yes but I don't have one yet, and the van is urgent hence the post!

jk0

Best to lease a van rather than buy, isn't it?


Then all the cost is tax deductible.

tom78

Ok thats what I thought, but was not sure on the matter.

Thanks

Navigator123

As a sole trader for over 35 years I think I can help.

First of all keep a record of all your business mileage. That is mileage from your home to your client, mileage on your clients business and mileage back home again. This mileage you can claim on you SE98 at the end of the tax year at 45 pence per mile for the first 10,000 miles each year and then at 22 pence per mile for any mileage thereafter. Make sure that your van is insured for Class 1 business use or, if you are doing deliveries of any kind, then make sure you are insured for courier use.

You cannot claim for depreciation, servicing etc as that is all built in to the mileage allowance.

If you are leasing the van and it is being used solely for business use and you are VAT registered then you can claim the VAT back on your leasing costs. You can also offset you leasing costs as a nett figure (minus any VAT the leasing company charge) as business expenses.

Hope that helps.

Car_54

IIRC you can claim EITHER x pence per mile OR the actual costs. The first is obviously easier, but may not be better for you.


If you take the other route, there are strict rules about what is actually allowable. The HMRC website is pretty helpful, but as suggested above an accountant is best.


And you need to adjust for any non-business use.

tom78

Thanks for this great advice - all makes sense. 1 question sorry if this sounds silly, if the company is not VAT registered and I lease a van, can I still offset the net lease figure as a business expense?

Regards
Tom

Navigator123

Yes. For example - if the lease cost is £300 per month including VAT then the net cost is £240. You would file the £240 per month ( £2880 per year) as a business expense.

Please note that this only applies if you are using the van exclusively for business use. If you use the van for personal use as well then you will only be able to claim a pro rata rate.

For example, if you do 15000 miles on business and use the van for personal use and drive 5000 miles of private mileage then you will only be able to claim 75% of the net lease cost.

tom78

Ok yes I understand, makes sense - so in theory a lease is not too bad. I am assuming I cannot claim the milage as well as the lease net figure?

sheramber

Navigator123 wrote: »

As a sole trader for over 35 years I think I can help.

First of all keep a record of all your business mileage. That is mileage from your home to your client, mileage on your clients business and mileage back home again. This mileage you can claim on you SE98 at the end of the tax year at 45 pence per mile for the first 10,000 miles each year and then at 22 pence per mile for any mileage thereafter. Make sure that your van is insured for Class 1 business use or, if you are doing deliveries of any kind, then make sure you are insured for courier use.

You cannot claim for depreciation, servicing etc as that is all built in to the mileage allowance.

If you are leasing the van and it is being used solely for business use and you are VAT registered then you can claim the VAT back on your leasing costs. You can also offset you leasing costs as a nett figure (minus any VAT the leasing company charge) as business expenses.

Hope that helps.

You can only claim form home if your business is based in your home.

If you have business premises you cannot claim home to these premises- that is personal travel. We all have to travel to our place of work.

You would claim from your business premises to client, supplier etc and back to business premises