Privated Limited Company - where to find advice

[itmar1234]

My DH and I have a private limited company (both shareholders) and we have been told that we can buy a 0 emissions car on the company and it will be included as capital allowance etc.

I have been trying to find out details by checking on the gov.uk website and money saving expert and googling but get more confused by the minute.

Do any of you know a good simple website that will spell it out simply and clearly for me. I emailed our company accountant but his reply was so vague it wasn't much help. I don't want to buy a car and then find out it costs me more money.

Is you accountant tax qualified? This is when a specialist is useful. Your accountant really should be able to give you proper advice on this, if they dont know the information personally they should be able to find out for you.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/709655/ultra-low-emission-vehicles-tax-benefits.pdf

This has a good simple list/outline of the different benefits.

I understand why it is confusing, most of of the info online highlights what you'll be saving, which assumes a prior knowledge base of what nonzero emission vehicles cost business users, which is confusing if you've never paid it or experienced it before.

This document is good because it it gives you a list of the 13 broad questions you should have. Ie what is CCT?

Work your way through and try to understand them one by one.

Who is your accountant? Do you have a personal relationship with them?

If my accountant couldn't answer this question I would find a new accountant.

@superduster

Is you accountant tax qualified? This is when a specialist is useful. Your accountant really should be able to give you proper advice on this, if they dont know the information personally they should be able to find out for you.

TBH I imagine the accountant understands it but is reluctant to engage in a conversation that could take up hours of his time and would be difficult to charge for.

Specialist financial advisors would help such as

www.tilney.co.uk/financial-planning/tax-planning

HMRC will give free advice on the telephone but you need to have specific questions.

HMRC also do employer webinars which are very useful for stuff like this but they're time consuming. They're also recorded and downloadable but it's better imo if you can do the webinar live.

@Shelddd

Who is your accountant? Do you have a personal relationship with them?

If my accountant couldn't answer this question I would find a new accountant.

That is a bit unfair.

For example, a doctor understands cancer but your GP won't give you several hours of explanation on what cancer is. They will point to you in the direction of trustworthy documents/websites that give good explanations.

Your doctor will look at your medical history and make a differential diagnosis. Similarly an accountant will support an employer with a P11D.

I could not disagree more. It's very very easy to prepare accounting statements and record transactions. You are paying an accountant for specialist advice if you're not getting it, go elsewhere.

@Shelddd

I could not disagree more. It's very very easy to prepare accounting statements and record transactions. You are paying an accountant for specialist advice if you're not getting it, go elsewhere.

If it is very very easy @Shelddd why don't you type out an full explanation now?

Thank you everyone and thank you skedaddle for pointing me in the right direction. I agree, I asked my accountant a simple question and got a simple answer because I didn't know enough to ask the right questions. I want more information so I think the onus is on me to investigate more thoroughly and ask more detailed questions.

@Shelddd

I could not disagree more. It's very very easy to prepare accounting statements and record transactions. You are paying an accountant for specialist advice if you're not getting it, go elsewhere.

All the accountant needs to do is whatever they agreed to in their letter of engagement. They may know all about zero emission cars and be able to advice, but not within the existing cost/time framework. Or they may be "specialist" in other areas but not up to date with the ever changing capital allowance/benefit regime for company cars.

The other poster mentioning GPs and cancer hits the nail on the head. An average GP will know enough about cancer to usually spot the signs and have a rough knowledge of treatment/effects etc., but will just refer/sign post the patient to other specialists.

No single accountant can possibly know everything about every tax/accounting related topic. It's a physical/mental impossibility. Most professional bodies have a regulation that their members must only carry out work/give advice on areas on which they have the necessary experience/knowledge.

@Shelddd

I could not disagree more. It's very very easy to prepare accounting statements and record transactions. You are paying an accountant for specialist advice if you're not getting it, go elsewhere.

My Accountant is happy to answer any personal and company tax related questions at No extra cost

@SkedaddIe

Not sure if you're being serious or just being difficult. Quite often people with accountants still do their own bookkeeping. I already do my own bookkeeping, i wouldnt bother my accountant with such a menial task (i don't think they have any interest in doing it either and don't really want to pay for that). My accountant does prepare by annual statements but they are all reports from my accounting software... the reason they prepare them is because they know about additional deductions I may not be aware of, etc. Again paying for their expertise not for their admin.

Do you want me to go and show you screenshots of where to print off the statements in my accounting software? Or do you want a step by step of how to add an invoice in my accounting system? I'm happy to provide either if it helps you with your business.

[quote Shelddd]@SkedaddIe

Not sure if you're being serious or just being difficult. Quite often people with accountants still do their own bookkeeping. I already do my own bookkeeping, i wouldnt bother my accountant with such a menial task (i don't think they have any interest in doing it either and don't really want to pay for that). My accountant does prepare by annual statements but they are all reports from my accounting software... the reason they prepare them is because they know about additional deductions I may not be aware of, etc. Again paying for their expertise not for their admin.

Do you want me to go and show you screenshots of where to print off the statements in my accounting software? Or do you want a step by step of how to add an invoice in my accounting system? I'm happy to provide either if it helps you with your business.[/quote]
What size business do you have?!

If you have a positive relationship with your accountant, and certainly a long standing one - then it’s not “bothering” then to fling them the odd adhoc query

I just typed "private limited company and zero emissions car and tax" into Google and this article came up.