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Company Cars and Fuel Cards


Lord v
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I start a new job in a month that comes with a company car or a (pretty generous) car allowance. Rather unusually though if I go for the company car I get a fuel card that also covers private mileage which is a bit of a first for me.

As far as I can make out this is treated as a £5-6k BIK (depending on car) for tax purposes?

Usually I would take the company car as there are some pretty decent motors in the range and I like the no hassle/free maintenance of it - but are fuel cards generally worth it? By my calculations a private lease or car loan would work out better unless I decide to drive up to Scotland a few times a year. (Perfect excuse for some more stalking though if you ask me..... 'But love, its pretty much free...and I need to get my moneys worth') 

My commute will be circa 7k miles a year and my total average mileage in my current job (new job will be about the same) is between 15-20k a year so we aren't talking crazy miles here.

Google hasn't been much help as these fuel cards seem pretty rare these days and some first hand experience would be good.   

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In 40+ years of having company car or car allowance with or without a fuel card I found it most cost effective to run my own car and claim mileage.  That way you can have the car you like (and is most fuel efficient).   Not sure what tax issues there are now however.      My last car under these conditions was the diesel forester which used to give me circa 50+ mpg on reasonable runs and off road capacity.

 

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before the govt clamped down onthis sort of thing..........it was a wonderful thing...:good:

then the govt went to town ............i changed jobs ..........refused the car and fuel card and bought my own car and claimed mileage.............the onerous thing was having to log (with reason) every bloody single mile claimed for.........and if it wasnt right and the numbers didnt tally it became a huge problem..........everything became a problem.......

originally i was very spoilt....i had a company visa card which i used for everything ...fuel , hotels ...food...plane travel...entertaining....bungs....company car and fuel card....all i had to do was to staple the reciepts together and hand them in everytime i went back to the office......

 

THEN IT ALL STOPPED.............christ ..it was like going cold turkey........

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I run a leased car funded by a Car Allowance, and also have an All Star fuel card, which covers all fuel purchased in the UK.

The monthly Car Allowance is taxed in full.

My total mileage is pretty similar to yours, (18k PA), and my total fuel bill is around £3k PA, (which is what you are taxed on as a "Benefit in Kind").

Any business mileage is claimed on a monthly basis and my Car Allowance is adjusted accordingly each month, (not sure how exactly the calculation works, but my business mileage is low so it's not a big issue to me).

I can't see why anybody would turn down the offer of a fuel card, OK, you pay some extra tax, but you're still getting all of your fuel paid for..?

Cat.

 

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As they are offering a fuel car with private fuel included, The BIK of £5-6k will be on top of the car BIK, so you need to ask yourself, would you spend more on fuel than the tax on the additional £5-6k BIK?

If you were to pay for your own private fuel (via the fuel card) then there would be no BIK on the fuel card.

Cheers

Hayden

 

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I have to log my miles at the moment, so while a ball ache its one I am used to.

Running the numbers again I think a private lease ends up being very slightly better, but only by £70 odd a month based on comparative motors. And that includes a rough estimate on a business mileage claim a month of circa £60. Without that its within a nats **** of each other.

Its all 6 of one half a dozen of t'other as I obviously have way more choice on vehicle on a private lease, plus diesel options that would kill me on BIK via a company lease, plus potential to get a cheaper vehicle. But free fuel, servicing etc etc on the other hand (in all seriousness would be useful for the odd Highland Holiday).   

I don't think you pay NI on a car allowance do you?

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I had a car allowance for the last 20 years of work or so and always found it more efficient to take the allowance and run my own car even though the mileage allowance at 40p was below the running cost of around 85p. I could run a slightly older car rather than a newer motor every three years. 

My wife has a very generous car allowance, enough for a decent range rover and does almost zero work miles. She takes whats left of the cash and buys a more modest motor. No fuel card on offer.

Can you get the car you would would like on the company scheme?

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How ours works is you log your business miles and submit them when time allows within the month. Usually post code to postcode with a 10% (I think) leeway. If you’re diverted etc you have the text box to let them know why. You also log private mileage. As long as your end of month odometer reading tallies up with the mileage you have logged it’s all good, the fuel for your private mileage is then taken out your next months pay. This is all done online, or by an app or even txt message with a miles consultancy. If you fail to submit any logs then the whole fuel spend for that month comes out of your pay. When doing  3-4k miles a month I wouldn’t want to make that mistake! 

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10 hours ago, Jason_ox said:

How ours works is you log your business miles and submit them when time allows within the month. Usually post code to postcode with a 10% (I think) leeway. If you’re diverted etc you have the text box to let them know why. You also log private mileage. As long as your end of month odometer reading tallies up with the mileage you have logged it’s all good, the fuel for your private mileage is then taken out your next months pay. This is all done online, or by an app or even txt message with a miles consultancy. If you fail to submit any logs then the whole fuel spend for that month comes out of your pay. When doing  3-4k miles a month I wouldn’t want to make that mistake! 

Are you charged the whole cost of your private fuel? Or is it just the tax you lose? 

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