Yeovil accountants Old Mill put the brakes on company car tax
Business people and fleet owners who write down the cost of their company car against tax should consider selling their cars before April 2009 and switching to leased cars to ensure they do not fall fowl of recent tax changes according to Craig Howes of accountants Old Mill at a meeting held jointly with The Yeovil Motor Company at the Yeovil Innovation Centre on 11 December.
The seminar, entitled “You, your car, company cars and tax” looked at a wide variety of topical issues relating to cars and the related taxation – both subjects close to many business peoples hearts.
Craig Howes and Mark Peters, Directors at Old Mill, spoke about the key issues surrounding the changes to company car tax. This is now calculated solely on cars CO2 emissions - and it is now very important to consider the emission band the car sits in when buying a new car.
Craig and Mark, also talked about the Government’s change to the tax regime to abolish the writing down of balancing allowance for cars over £12,000. This significantly extends the time it takes to get tax back after the car has been sold – and for high emission cars this could now take 20 years. This means that people should seriously consider the tax advantages of leasing. Leasing tax rules are much simpler than for owned cars and all costs involved are claimable against tax, so leasing, said Old Mill, could be the way to go.
Tony Grice, Sales Development Manager for Volvo talked about corporate manslaughter and the fact that from April this year, if employees are involved in a fatal car accident whilst on business – even if they are driving their own private car, their employers could end up in court facing charges of causing death by negligence. It is the responsibility of employers to ensure any vehicles used by employees on business are fit for the purpose. This is causing companies who have ceased providing company cars to reconsider their position.
He highlighted the importance of car safety and the wellbeing of employees using thought provoking images and videos to show which cars are the safest to drive.
Craig Howes comments “This was a different type of seminar looking at a very different topic. However the response of the businesses that attended was very positive. It bought to their attention important matters which they may well have overlooked.
Anyone who would like more information about any of the issues raised should contact Craig on 01935 426181.