I just started up Oxford Source Ltd and am trying to work out if it would be worth leasing a far rather than buying one outright either second hand or new.
Does anyone have any background info on this as to whether it is worth it or not? I am the only person in this company so far and I am looking to buy a very low emission car I.e. Toyota auris
If anyone has any info I'd be glad to hear it
My dad owned his own business and we never "owned" a car growing up. The 2 family cars were actually leased under the business. I would assume my dad thought it was better to lease under the business than to own himself.
Well yeah I worked out I can lease a car every year for less than £2k - this means I get taxed £350 at the end of the year but I get that back pretty much on tax return. Basically means a new car right? I worked out also I will likely be driving 10,000-20,000 miles a year which for every mile I get 20p so that's a £4k tax return! Or so I've been told by my accountant. So what the hell, may as well really
My dad did 4 year leases, so we got 2 new cars every 4 years 
Mines cool mate, cos its 3rd hand. It's the new ones that have the problems.
Once its 3rd hand all the knocks and bangs and problems have been fixed up lol
I'm getting an Evo 5 in a few weeks
Nice one.
Does anyone know what the costs are in becoming a VAT registered company?
no cost to vat register... until tax time hits.... make sure you're going to be turning over enough to need to register first... it was a turn over of £38,000 needed before you HAD to register, but that was 18 years ago. Leasing a car is way cheaper, but once you're set up, buying an expensive car can work out in your favour, as the entire cost can be written off over five years...... (or could be 18 years ago lol)
Nice one mate - I was working it all out last night. I'll be doing 12000 miles a year so that's 10000 at 40p a mile and 2000 at 25p a mile on tax relief - works out to about £5200. So on the tax return that's 20% of £5200 = £1040. VAT registration is at £70k now so I could do £200 a month which is about £2400.
As for the tax side of things on getting a car as a benefit, because I'll be looking at low emissions I'll have to pay around £400 - however because I'll be paying for the lease anyway my tax return on that works out to £480 so I get back about £80 on it.
So therefore £2400 - £1040 - 80 = £1280 a year and a brand new car every 3 years.
When I stopped being self-employed about 4yrs ago, your limit for when you HAD to register for VAT was if your turnover was £60k. I think that has been increased since. It is a HUGE amount of effort once you are registered for VAT - if you don't need, to, rather don't.
When you say a huge amount of effort, you mean picking up your VAT receipts on every journey, plus food etc?
I am going to have to be VAT registered anyway by the looks of things, as I start work pretty much on the beginning of the tax year
I guess the one hassle once you go VAT registered is that it means you're essentially charging the 20% extra for your services, so a very small company might turn you down for a job. However in the field I work in, it's very unlikely that will be the case. So it's just about chasing your receipts, handing them over and doing the form (which is why I've got an accountant).
