Talk to me about the benefits of a company car/benefits package

[ZednotZee]

I'm currently changing roles.

The new role includes a salary cut of roughly 6K pre tax/NI/pension/student loan. So only about 200 pounds per month in real terms.

Will a company car be such a tangible benefit as to make up for this?

I will need to keep my seven seater taxed and insured due to having five dc in any case.

If you have a company car please tell me all the great things about it. I'll also have a fuel card, company sick pay, private medical insurance and professional fees reimbursed plus a lunch allowance as new role is field based.

Is this package worse a 6k cut from a position with only ssp and no other tangible benefits other than a good salary?

@HasaDigaEebowai

Loads of evs will do enough miles between charges to get in 160ish miles a day. Plus stopping to do a top up charge is perfectly possible even if running low.

Not when you've got 5 kids and are doing a full time job. Most evs are great for runaround but they're not suitable for someone doing 24k a year like the OP.

With regards to the fuel card our employees choose to pay back personal mileage. You have to keep a record of business and personal miles then pay back the number of personal miles multiplied by HMRC’s fuel scale charge (the exact amount depends on engine size but is approx 11p per mile). Doing that means you are not taxed on personal mileage.

You'll pay BIK taxes on your medical insurance and the cost of it will depend on your policy - for the younger members of our team it only costs £30/month.
We have Tesla as a company car - very little tax needed to be paid on it - the range isn't quite as good as they specify.

If you only use your company car for work I think you get it tax free but it's a pain trying to prove it - speak to an accountant, you shouldn't be paying tax on a car you only use for work (I don't mean commuting)

Not when you've got 5 kids and are doing a full time job. Most evs are great for runaround but they're not suitable for someone doing 24k a year like the OP

I don’t think that’s right. You can charge around 150 miles in 15 minutes on the fast chargers

As others have said, be careful and do some research as this could be very expensive

200 a month pay cut
200 a month tax on the car possibly could be more
30 a month tax on the health etc
? Tax on the subsidised private mileage

You could be 500 a month down cash wise. Ok with a nice shiny company car but that’s a lot of extra tax.

[quote Alarae]Depending on the actual car, you are probably looking at a tax charge of a minimum of £1,500, so about £135 a month assuming you are a basic rate taxpayer.

You can look at this website where you can choose various models to see what the potential tax could be (not a definite, but probably right ballpark):

comcar.co.uk/companycar/tax/select/[/quote]
Audi and BMW both do electric models.

The BIK on my Tesla is £24/month.....

@HasaDigaEebowai

Not when you've got 5 kids and are doing a full time job. Most evs are great for runaround but they're not suitable for someone doing 24k a year like the OP

I don’t think that’s right. You can charge around 150 miles in 15 minutes on the fast chargers

You might want to read @Netaporter's post. You may not 'think that's right' but her post is the reality of driving an electric vehicle in the U.K. (do you have one incidentally?). It's absolutely been my experience too - driving around trying fruitlessly to find a fast charger. Really what you need when you're juggling a full time job and a big family

@Clymene

Are you sure you couldn't get a 7 seater as your company car? That would probably be the most cost effective way of doing it. You do need to work out the tax implications. Using a company car as a tax loophole was closed ages ago

You can still gain tax advantages if you choose a low emissions vehicle.

Wow thanks for all of the advice here, I have emailed the company to find out the choice of car.

I have another interview next week with another company who offer a 4K car allowance in place of a company car for a broadly similar role.
I didn't really understand the tax implications and have accepted the role that comes with the car. No contracts have been signed as yet though.

I get a lunch allowance with the role of ten pounds per day. I have been told that this is not taxed, is this likely to be the case?

I think it highly unlikely that I will be offered an electric vehicle but perhaps if I stay with this company they will move over to electric in the future?
That certainly seems to be the way things are going.

@ZednotZee

Wow thanks for all of the advice here, I have emailed the company to find out the choice of car.

I have another interview next week with another company who offer a 4K car allowance in place of a company car for a broadly similar role.
I didn't really understand the tax implications and have accepted the role that comes with the car. No contracts have been signed as yet though.

I get a lunch allowance with the role of ten pounds per day. I have been told that this is not taxed, is this likely to be the case?

I think it highly unlikely that I will be offered an electric vehicle but perhaps if I stay with this company they will move over to electric in the future?
That certainly seems to be the way things are going.

Assuming they are using the HMRC subsistence scale rates then £10 would be a 2 meal allowance. It isn’t taxed if you are travelling for at least 10 hours although some industries have agreed a bespoke rate with HMRC.