Any accountants around to give a quick bit of advice re company cars pros and cons?

[curlywurlycremeegg]

I need a car to be able to carry out my business. I recently bought a new car on 0% finance and am aware that I can class it as an asset against tax. However I was wondering where I stood if I wanted to pay for it through the company? It is registered in my name, not as a company car. Is it legal to do this and if so are there any tax implications.....I could ask my accountant but he really waffles on and I just don't understand a lot of the jargon he uses Thanks

Is your business a limited company or do you trade as a sole trader?

Did you buy, lease or HP the car?

My DH leases his car and has put it through his business, which is an accountancy practice. If he has done this I suspect it is the way to go for leasing. All the payments go through the books.

If you haven't got any answers in a couple of hours from a MN accountant I'll give him a call and see what he says but he is out at the moment.

Hi roquefort it's a ltd company

It's on HP with Renault's own finance Niecie

Sorry if I take a while to answer, DS2 is unwell so am to and from computer

If you do a lot of miles it usually works out best to claim the mileage back tax free and keep the car in your name. Am not sure you will be able to get the company to pay for it (if you are ltd anyway) now you have taken finance in your name.

anchovies, thanks for that, I always used to claim back the milage but thought it may be a bit easier just paying for car outright, can see why it would get complicated though so may just stick with what I have always done

If the company were providing the car, it would be treated as a benefit in kind and you would have to pay tax under the normal rules for company cars given to employees. The amount you would be charged depends on the CO2 rating etc - best to ask your accountant.

For this to be the case you would need to get the lease company to transfer the lease into the company's name.

As it stands the way to get tax relief is for the company to pay you a mileage rate for business mileage.

Be careful, it is a HP agreement not a lease. Under an HP agreement the asset is put into the balance sheet and has capital allowances applied in the accounts (rstricted to £3k per annum). Under a lease it isn't capitalised, the expense goes through the P&L.

the CO2 emissions are quite high think that milage is the way to go then, thanks everyone