would you swap your 430 for a bmw i8?

[slippery]

bertie said:

I had an i8 on test for 24 hours, the other week.

It's an interesting thing, but having spent some time with it, it's more a 6 series competitor to my mind.

Although I've not driven a 430, I have owned a 360 and 458 and I don't think it's even trying to compete with them.

So in answer to the OP question, no.

I totally agree. It reminded me very much of how I felt when I drove an 8 series, shortly after it was launched, very much a GT car.

[spunko2010]

I spoke with my accountant and she was under the impression that you can only claim the FYA for the business use although she did admit she needs to research it. I.e. if you use it for 60% business and 40% personal, you can only claim 60% of the FYA as opposed to the 100%. Hope this isn't right!

[slippery]

I think that's wrong.

[WCZ]

considering an i8 as a company car, having the accountant look into a few things first though
the amount of tax you pay is ridiculously low

[spunko2010]

I'm not sure either slippery. I hope not! Will report back when I have confirmation.

Edit: If you go here there is a discussion: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=ca... I don't really understand it, though.

The key part seems to be: "Because the car is partly used for non-business purposes, then in this case the sole trader client needs to calculate the portion of the FYA available as a deduction against profits, by taking the cost of the vehicle into a single asset pool, and then reducing the 100% FYA claim by the amount of 10% private use."

Edited by spunko2010 on Monday 17th November 13:36

[kryten22uk]

spunko2010 said:

I'm not sure either slippery. I hope not! Will report back when I have confirmation.

Edit: If you go here there is a discussion: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=ca... I don't really understand it, though.

The key part seems to be: "Because the car is partly used for non-business purposes, then in this case the sole trader client needs to calculate the portion of the FYA available as a deduction against profits, by taking the cost of the vehicle into a single asset pool, and then reducing the 100% FYA claim by the amount of 10% private use."

Edited by spunko2010 on Monday 17th November 13:36

Soletrader rules are different to Ltd company rules. The former needs a private use adjustment, the latter not.
Also, no VAT reclaim on cars, only on lease purchase payments.

There is tons of chat on this in the Business forum.

[slippery]

kryten22uk said:

Soletrader rules are different to Ltd company rules. The former needs a private use adjustment, the latter not.
Also, no VAT reclaim on cars, only on lease purchase payments.

There is tons of chat on this in the Business forum.

[spunko2010]

Oh, thank god. By the way I was quoted between June and Christmas 2015 by different dealers. Apparently the interior/world makes a big difference on the lead time.

Think I'll buy a new one through the company before Christmas if the prices drop a little further... Seem to be hovering around £120k still.

[slippery]

The ones advertised at £120k are already registered and therefore wouldn't qualify for FYA aren't they?

[spunko2010]

It depends, some are and some aren't. Some are just waiting list places I think. Not sure how that would pan out but I think you'd just transfer the name/build slot. Something else to check! Example: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

There was a similar discussion recently on PH: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... it seems 'ex demo' can qualify too. What I don't understand is how come that's the case when surely you would not be the first owner, it would have been registered to the dealers first, no? I wouldn't get an ex-demo £100k car but just curious, this seems like a loophole for a cheaper low-emissions car.

Edited by spunko2010 on Wednesday 19th November 18:45

[kryten22uk]

FYA is a bit of a red herring. All it does is capitalise upfront the expense offset. You still get the same amount of expense deduction if you dont utilise FYA, its just phased over the ownership period.

[spunko2010]

kryten22uk said:

FYA is a bit of a red herring. All it does is capitalise upfront the expense offset. You still get the same amount of expense deduction if you dont utilise FYA, its just phased over the ownership period.

Interesting. I thought you could only claim a fixed percentage every year, something like 18%, so would take 5+ years before you get to 100%. Could be wrong though, is there a fixed percent? There isn't really much information on this online I've noticed/

[Office_Monkey]

Out of my price range, but one parked by the office in Shepherds Bush yesterday, had a child seat in the back so might be more practical in some respects?

I'd say it's more comparable to an M6 rather than a 430. Definitely stands out but not hugely keen on the styling tbh.

[bertie]

Office_Monkey said:

Out of my price range, but one parked by the office in Shepherds Bush yesterday, had a child seat in the back so might be more practical in some respects?

I'd say it's more comparable to an M6 rather than a 430. Definitely stands out but not hugely keen on the styling tbh.

Must be an osteopath, no other sane person would use the rear seats!

[mackay45]

spunko2010 said:

kryten22uk said:

FYA is a bit of a red herring. All it does is capitalise upfront the expense offset. You still get the same amount of expense deduction if you dont utilise FYA, its just phased over the ownership period.

Interesting. I thought you could only claim a fixed percentage every year, something like 18%, so would take 5+ years before you get to 100%. Could be wrong though, is there a fixed percent? There isn't really much information on this online I've noticed/

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/capital-allowances/plant.htm#7

The "capital allowances on cars" section is the bit you need.

100% FYA is a 100% first year deduction, i.e. tax relief fully received in year one. 18% WDA (or 8% WDA for less efficient cars, co2 per km figures are on that link) means you get 18% writing down allowance per annum but it takes a lot longer than 5 years to receive the relief. Say on £100k of spend, you get £18k WDA in year one, then about £15k in year two, etc etc.

[Gh76]

Following on with this discussion. Did any of you end up buying through your ltd companies? How did the final numbers work out?

Thanks.

Reason for my asking is tht I have a large corporation tax bill coming up in the following year so if there's any way I can use some of tht to offset a car purchase tht would be ideal.