company cars
- Thread starter chrisj900
- Start date
danmiddle2
Active member
It's a short term thing while I sell my house to move closer to the job... not planning to be doing it for long. But yes, that's 5+hours commuting per day!
TBH I was already doing nearly that (timewise) on the train before I decided driving was preferable.
TBH I was already doing nearly that (timewise) on the train before I decided driving was preferable.
danmiddle2
Active member
Taz said:
Not really - you'd be surprised how quickly you get used to it. If it makes you feel better, the CC practically does all the driving for me. It has auto-breaking, auto-parking, radar-guided-cruise control etc. Really boring, but an amazing piece of kit.
JaEdBa said:
Quite a few years ago my old company decided to add VAT back into the monthly cost of the cars for some obscure reason, which took the cost of anything decent up to mortgage payment levels. The car I was in at the time would have cost over £100 a month more had I wanted to replace it with a new one at the end of it's life. Ended up taking reallocated cars that were handed back by leavers after that as they came at a much reduced monthly cost... Still taxed against the original list price though :thumbsdown:
Guess I shouldn't complain too much - I only managed to get in a Z for the first time as it was reallocated with just a year of company car life left in it.
My 118d M Sport costs me about £80 per month in tax with the package I have. I pay for my private fuel and that's it. I only do about 6-8k per year for work but need the flexibility to drive off at very short notice. We don't have the option of a fund, but the car is owned by my boss so there was a lot more flexibilty in model and spec.
Markcoopers
Member
I looked at a passat CC, but the BIk was 21%, so went for something at 17% instead.
OP, I think you get the picture here. If your mileage is high then the damage and wear to your car will be a significant cost but also you're idea of fun car for everyday use may be different if you do a massive high melange. If the mileage is small, and the scheme flexible, you may be able to get a decent choice, so worth exploring but my advice would be think ahead of any possible changes to your life.
OP, I think you get the picture here. If your mileage is high then the damage and wear to your car will be a significant cost but also you're idea of fun car for everyday use may be different if you do a massive high melange. If the mileage is small, and the scheme flexible, you may be able to get a decent choice, so worth exploring but my advice would be think ahead of any possible changes to your life.
I have a company car, it just about makes sense money wise, ford focus 1.0 liter eco boost. So the bik is quite low
It knocks just over 800 off of my tax code.
+ the cash alternative scheme is rubbish too many rules to what car you have to buy, must have 4 doors, 5 seats, cant be a convertable, must be under 120g co2 ano bigger than a 2.0 litter and under 3 years old .... so thats all the cars I want off the list
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It knocks just over 800 off of my tax code.
+ the cash alternative scheme is rubbish too many rules to what car you have to buy, must have 4 doors, 5 seats, cant be a convertable, must be under 120g co2 ano bigger than a 2.0 litter and under 3 years old .... so thats all the cars I want off the list
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Bing - that changed in many companies. They often insist on 4 door cars and the like so they maintain an image, able to transport clients, certain levels of Co2, age of car, etc.
I had a battle to have a 4x4 authorised for the allowance many years back.
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I had a battle to have a 4x4 authorised for the allowance many years back.
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cj10jeeper said:
the problem is that a lot of the people in charge of the 'selection' haven't got a clue about cars...
hence why the 'expert' in my old place used my S8 as a perfect example to others of a smart, cheap, new car....
:lol:
In BT there are 3 options :
Business Needs - you get a allowance (that you never see) towards a car from a very limited choice, so Astra, Focus etc. for lower grade employees.
Company Car - £500 per month allowance that you never see, towards the monthly cost of a car from a list, quite wide choice but no convertibles or performance (e.g. AMG, ///M etc.)...unless you're a senior exec. Generally needs topped up £200 a month to get close to a decent spec.
Cash - literally just a monthly sum, £450 in my case, added to your salary pre-tax, no restrictions on how you spend it. In theory you wouldn't have to spend it on a car at all if you didn't need to.
Different in Vodafone - up to a certain grade you MUST have a company car, you don't gave a choice. But their list is very wide and cheap because of the deals they have with the manufacturers (I guess because they can guarantee x thousand people will have cars) and everyone is cruising round in top spec 5 series, A6s, E class estates etc.
Cash would always be my first option unless doing huge miles.
Business Needs - you get a allowance (that you never see) towards a car from a very limited choice, so Astra, Focus etc. for lower grade employees.
Company Car - £500 per month allowance that you never see, towards the monthly cost of a car from a list, quite wide choice but no convertibles or performance (e.g. AMG, ///M etc.)...unless you're a senior exec. Generally needs topped up £200 a month to get close to a decent spec.
Cash - literally just a monthly sum, £450 in my case, added to your salary pre-tax, no restrictions on how you spend it. In theory you wouldn't have to spend it on a car at all if you didn't need to.
Different in Vodafone - up to a certain grade you MUST have a company car, you don't gave a choice. But their list is very wide and cheap because of the deals they have with the manufacturers (I guess because they can guarantee x thousand people will have cars) and everyone is cruising round in top spec 5 series, A6s, E class estates etc.
Cash would always be my first option unless doing huge miles.
Trouble with cash is that my experience was that it's not in any way indexed, so after 2-3 years you're left behind.
You can't go to HR and ask for another £100 to catch up.
No longer an issue as I run my own business and you do what you want, which happens to be buy your own 2 year old car, expense fuel at 45p per mile and have no bik tax.
You can't go to HR and ask for another £100 to catch up.
No longer an issue as I run my own business and you do what you want, which happens to be buy your own 2 year old car, expense fuel at 45p per mile and have no bik tax.
Interesting PVR. I've been running ltd since converting my sole several years ago.
I assume the cost of the sole accounting and other charges is outweighed by the 25% depreciation, write off and expensing the other stuff.
Obviously no interest as I'm keen to pay max tax.
I assume the cost of the sole accounting and other charges is outweighed by the 25% depreciation, write off and expensing the other stuff.
Obviously no interest as I'm keen to pay max tax.
I opted out of all company car schemes years ago......
1) The tax calculations change every 5 mins and its really hard to keep up to speed with what you can and cant do.
2) I work for an American company with American rules ....... a speeding ticket comes in whilst you are in a company car - a parking ticket,
an accident that's deemed your fault .... anything - that's a warning letter, 3 of them and you are unemployable, and I'm talking 3 in a lifetime.
3) I will not be told by some petty desk jockey .... about what car I will drive, etc etc etc .....
In the UK Im thinking a monthly car allowance would be he best bet .......
1) The tax calculations change every 5 mins and its really hard to keep up to speed with what you can and cant do.
2) I work for an American company with American rules ....... a speeding ticket comes in whilst you are in a company car - a parking ticket,
an accident that's deemed your fault .... anything - that's a warning letter, 3 of them and you are unemployable, and I'm talking 3 in a lifetime.
3) I will not be told by some petty desk jockey .... about what car I will drive, etc etc etc .....
In the UK Im thinking a monthly car allowance would be he best bet .......
cj10jeeper said:
I received a massive tax refund when I sold my old X5, as the tax calculation is:
- 25% depreciation per year of the car, with a maximum of £2500 (or thereabouts). Yeah, right on an X5
- When you sell the car, you can adjust the real loss versus the predicted one. So say after 4 years, tax office assumes you will have lost 10k on the car. In reality it is 30k or so, therefore 20k goes straight off your tax bill.
Figures vary a bit as you have to take the business % into account versus private use, I think I use something like 60/40 or so.
cj10jeeper said:
This is true. The cash allowance hadn't changed for years... However neither had the BIK allowance for a company car, despite the scheme cars gradually getting more expensive over time. So it worked out better to take the cash - if nothing else it was an extra £5,400 a year. The company car choice was reasonable though, as BT Fleet are a pretty big outfit in their own right and do know a thing or two about vehicles.
Bing said:
Yea the cash alternative wouldnt be so bad if I could get what car I wanted, but I would end up paying out for a brand new car that I dont want or like
All things considered the company car works out quite well for me,
To the op, you need to do the sums and work out which is best for you
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