Hi Guys,
I'm looking for help in saving my sanity regarding the old co car v cash battle.
I'm about to start a new job with opt out option. Previously for the last 15 years i have been a company car user with varying cars through the years.
Like many i now have the option of taking cash benefit along with repayment for the fuel i use on business mileage.
As a newbie to this i like many hit the net but with about 20,000,000 options i have thankfully stumbled on this site and hope your help will be useful in my search for sanity.
Basically i have option of multiple co cars to mainly GM, if they are still alive!! so Saab, insignia,Astra ect.
Cash benefit alternative is £460 month, 14p per mile claimed for business mileage from my home base. i believe i can claim back tax benefit up too 40p??
My mileage will be approx 30k per year business and 3k private
40% tax slave so the £160 or so wont be going too the tax man if i opt out
I am looking at 1 year old Audi A4 s line 140bhp. nice car!! approx 17k and as I'm going to be on the road this much i would like to drive something of my choice
Can someone help as to which is the best option???? before i go mmmmaaaddd!!!
Edited by Pugugly on 30/12/2008 at 18:17
|
I've been a 30K+ miles per year company car driver and I wouldn't be keen to be doing that sort of mileage in my own car - the car will inevitably take a hammering which you really don't want to be footing the bill for.
You can do some comparisons on www.cashorcar.co.uk but the cash option would need to be way more beneficial to outweigh the peace of mind of having a company car.
By the way, you get the tax relief up to 40p only for the first 10K miles, then it's 25p. Note you only get the tax back, so in your case it's 40% of the difference, so 10.4p for the first 10K, then 4.4p for the rest. And you can't claim it back until the end of the tax year.
Edited by Bill Payer on 30/12/2008 at 20:29
|
|
I've done both, in fact three ways: as employee with Co Car, employee with cash and now as company boss. Doing that kind of miles, with current credit crunch and falling car prices best to go with Co car. The Insignia isn't a bad car, you will have full fleet back up and no liabilities.
|
As I mentioned on the other post it depends on the miles you do.
Lots of private miles take the car,
Lots of business miles take the cash.
Not many of either take the cash.
|
Hi IJWS15,
Could you explain ???
|
|
|
|
|
Mercedes Benz UK company car drivers seem to get away with not paying tax on their company cars by doing a sort of purchase scheme, where they pretend to own the car for a few months, then sell it back to MB and get another new one. A friend of mine works for them and he only pays tax on the loan, so his BIK is about £18 per month and he drives a £45,000 car. Perhaps you could ask your employer for a similiar deal?
|
|
|
|
>>And you can't claim it back until the end of the tax year.
Technically you can't - but ask HMRC and they will stick a deduction in your tax coding.
Edited by hxj on 31/12/2008 at 13:02
|
|
|
|
|
Reading this may help. tinyurl.com/a894wy
|
Take the company car - far less hastle considering the milage
Imagine what would happen if the car needed repairs and was off the road for several days/weeks - you would have to hire a car at your expense
MVP
|
or how about an a6 2.7 tdi? Nationwidevehiclecontracts have these for £250 + VAt per month based on 10k.
|
|
|
|
|
I'm in the position shortly of going from a 25,000 miles per year company car to similar cash benefits to you if I don't take the company car. I'll be taking the cash, but only because my business mileage will now be under 3,000 per year. If I was still doing 20,000 + per year there is no way I'd run my own car. The wear and tear plus depreciation costs would be enormous.
Edited by Victorbox on 07/06/2009 at 11:33
|
mario88,
With that kind of mileage I'd definitely go for a company car. Much less hassle.
|
|
The decision to opt out and take a decent cash allowance usually makes more sense if you're a high mileage driver who pays higher rate tax.
|
|
|
|
