Using a car or van for work in a Ltd Company

stphnstevey

I have been researching the tax benifits of my Ltd providing a car or van to me for work purposes. This is what I have been able to gather so far - IF YOU KNOW ANYMORE, YOUR THOUGHTS ARE WELCOME

CAR -
COMPANY CAR
Employee pays for company car benefit in kind from 10-35% of list price depending on CO2 level. Company pays Nat Ins on this benefit in kind and any personal mileage payment.
OWN CAR
Better to own car yourself and charge company 40p mile allowance tax free for Ltd and employee. Company can claim this as an expenses. VAT recovery is not available on a car that is used for private use and it extremely difficult to show that a car is not used for private use.

VANS (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vans/employer-van-facts.htm)
There is no benefit in kind charge for a van if the personal use is deemed 'insignificant'. That is 'very much the exception to the normal use, is intermittent and irregular and last only for short periods of time on odd occasions during the year'. Examples of NOT insignificant use are regularly uses the van to do the supermarket shopping, takes the van away on a week’s holiday
uses the van outside of work for social activities.
If the van is deemed to be used for 'personal use' then there is a benefit in kind tax liability of £3,000 x tax rate (22 or 40%) equivilent to £1,200 or £660. There is also employer NIC.
Van is defined as 'a vehicle provided by an employer which is built primarily to carry goods or other loads and which has a “design weight” of up to 3,500 kilograms'
Where employers consider there is no tax to pay, they will have to keep sufficient records to show that private use is restricted to journeys between home and work. This may include making the conditions clear in employment contracts or asking employees to sign a statement acknowledging company policy on what use is allowed and any disciplinary consequences. Employers may also, for example, want to keep mileage or other records showing how the vehicles are used to help with this.
What is classed as a 'van' is defined by the Inland Revenue. It is based on the construction of the vehicle not it's use. Generally if it is primary designed to carry goods rather than people, it is a van. http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/eimanual/EIM23021.htm .Double cab pick-ups are difficult for the IR to define as double cab pick-up that has a payload of 1 tonne (1,000kg) or more is accepted as a van for benefits purposes. Payload means gross vehicle weight (or design weight) less unoccupied kerb weight (care is needed when looking at manufacturers’ brochures as they sometimes define payload differently). If it has a hardtop, subtract 45kg and it still needs to be over 1 tonne.
Generally, luxury 4x4 vehicles are not classed as vans.

For VAT purposes there is a list here http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageVAT_ShowContent&id=HMCE_PROD_010443&propertyType=document
Note Vauxhall Cora/Astra, Puegeot 207, Ford Fiesta, Fiat Punto, Citreon C2 all come in a van - just don't have back seats