Putting a Kombi VW through Ltd co / bik question

[vanman1]

Hi

I'm considering purchasing a new vw kombi van (t32, gross weight over a tonne) through my ltd co business and reclaiming the vat (i'm flat rate). This would be used for work, I'm self employed, travelling to various places of work etc. Also at some point I may want to convert this into a camper so I can save on hotels, and also as I sometimes need to be in remote locations due to the nature of my job (landscape photographer) for early starts where there are no hotels nearby.

Anyhow, my question is can I do the above or will I be hit by BIK tax to such an extent where it isn't worth doing? I have use of my wife's car for private usage, going to the shops/holidays etc. My accountant is away at the mo so will ask him when he returns but wanted to start researching now.

Thanks!

[andyb28]

I dont have the answer, just here to see what is said as I am also interested to know the answer to this.

[PH5121]

Apologies in advance if I have misread or misunderstood your query.

I run a van instead of a company car and I pay tax on £3744, as BIK on a van is tax on £3150 and BIK on private fuel is tax on £594.

[VEX]

I am not an accountant, but an interested party and looked into this a few times.

The Kombi is one HMRC pays special insterest to as it is such a lifestyle vehicle, from memory all but the LWB, T32 is classed as a passenger vehicle rather than a commercial.

Equally, the Kombi's and any of the crewcab vans are actually harder to convert to campers than their standard van versions, because of the the bolted in seats and the odd bulkhead arrangements behind the second seat rows.

I have actually gone off the Kombi / Crew options because of this and looking at a straight LWB T6 Van

V.

[russ_a]

Generally anything designed to carry rear passengers is not allowed to be classed as a Van. Check the site below and you will see Kombi is listed under Cars.

http://comcar.co.uk/newcar/companycar/vancalc/?clk...

http://comcar.co.uk/newcar/companycar/taxcalc/g5ca...

You can however buy a Range Rover Sport (Commercial Version) and fit the aftermarket rear seat kit.

Edited by russ_a on Monday 21st March 20:51

[Junior Bianno]

russ_a said:

You can however buy a Range Rover Sport (Commercial Version) and fit the aftermarket rear seat kit.

I'd be happy to be corrected, but I'm pretty sure there's no such vehicle as a RRS Commercial. There IS a Discovery Commercial, but the rear seat thing is a minefield. It's astonishingly expensive to order the seats from Land Rover, and the aftermarket seats are not really comparable (as in, they are a major compromise)

[Sixpackpert]

Junior Bianno said:

I'd be happy to be corrected, but I'm pretty sure there's no such vehicle as a RRS Commercial. There IS a Discovery Commercial, but the rear seat thing is a minefield. It's astonishingly expensive to order the seats from Land Rover, and the aftermarket seats are not really comparable (as in, they are a major compromise)

No RRS Commercial from Land Rover but Nene do a commercial version. I cannot see how the VAT or classification works out though as surely Nene just modify a standard RRS?

I am waiting on my second Disco Commercial at the moment, 3 days late...

[VEX]

Mmmmm, would be interests in any links on the disco commercial conversions. Really tempted also by a 110 from Twisted

V.

[Sixpackpert]

VEX said:

Mmmmm, would be interests in any links on the disco commercial conversions. Really tempted also by a 110 from Twisted

V.

Why do you need links, Land Rover do a Disco commercial as standard...

Be quick though, the Disco 4 won't be around for long...

[Nick928]

Bit of a thread running on the T5 forum about this
http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=372360

The basic gist is if you are self employed (sole-trader) then it's fairly do-able as effectively you own the van. The whole camper side of it is a whole new question.
If you are talking about a LTD company owning it and providing it to you for any personal use then the current rules say that you can reclaim VAT if it's a T32 (due to the one tonne payload with the seats in place the T32 just passes but the T30 doesn't).
Unfortunately they use a different criteria for the Benefit In Kind tax and due to the seats and roof behind the driver it is classed as a car. It's classed it as a van on the V5, it's classed as a van for speed limits, insurance company class it as a van, manufacturers class it as a van, HMRC class it as commercial for VAT but as ridiculous as it sounds for BIK HMRC class it as a car.

Speak to your accountant before purchasing as the increase in tax is potentially huge.

[vanman1]

Thanks for the replies. A colleague who has a Merc Vito (which has similar config to the Kombi, ie rear seats/windows and an area for kit) has put it through his books and pays around £600 bik a year to allow an element of private use. He's not one to bend the books either so it seems do-able and the £600 bik I could handle. Will let you know if I get further info on this.

[Eric Mc]

Just because a friend has managed to do something does not mean that everything is OK. HMRC does not always pick up on details until a number of years has passed. If it turns out that something was declared incorrectly for BIK purposes, it can work out quite expensive sorting matters out.

[Sixpackpert]

vanman1 said:

has put it through his books and pays around £600 bik a year to allow an element of private use.

An element of private use?

I'm pretty sure you can't have an 'element' of private use! And I am sure you can't just make up how much to pay either?

[Crippo]

It depends if it has a 1000kg payload. This is the defining constraint. For your info HMRC are also clueless. I phoned them about it and they couldn't give me a straight answer. Some configurations are slightly above a ton others are just a fraction below. Things like stop/start or air con can affect the payload because they add weight to the van and hence detract from payload.

[Digga]

Crippo said:

It depends if it has a 1000kg payload. This is the defining constraint. For your info HMRC are also clueless. I phoned them about it and they couldn't give me a straight answer. Some configurations are slightly above a ton others are just a fraction below. Things like stop/start or air con can affect the payload because they add weight to the van and hence detract from payload.

Also, worth OP bearing in mind, BIK regs are slightly different for a 4x4 vehicle - which, of course, you can specify the Kombi as; 4motion.

[mel]

Sixpackpert said:

No RRS Commercial from Land Rover but Nene do a commercial version. I cannot see how the VAT or classification works out though as surely Nene just modify a standard RRS?

I am waiting on my second Disco Commercial at the moment, 3 days late...

Land Rover SVO will do pretty much anything you want if you're prepared to pay for it. I have an Evoque Commercial that is shown as a van on the V5, fully VAT claimable, flat rate van BiK. I will confess that my accountant raised an eyebrow as apparently there are very specific rules on various Land Rover vehicles, and there is no such vehicle as the Evoque Commercial listed, but after a fair bit of digging and conversations with HMRC it was given a clean bill of health.

[Digga]

mel said:

Land Rover SVO will do pretty much anything you want if you're prepared to pay for it. I have an Evoque Commercial that is shown as a van on the V5, fully VAT claimable, flat rate van BiK. I will confess that my accountant raised an eyebrow as apparently there are very specific rules on various Land Rover vehicles, and there is no such vehicle as the Evoque Commercial listed, but after a fair bit of digging and conversations with HMRC it was given a clean bill of health.

I didn't know that. IMHO the Disco Sport would make a tidy little commercial - far better really than the full-fat disco - and I'm surprised no factory option is offered as standard in lieu of the Defender replacement. We ran Defenders (had three at one time) as well as Disco and Freelander commercials, but are down to the last Defender now, effectively out of the brand loop for if/when the defender replacement arrives. Seems a bit shortsighted from LR, although they're really all about the bling these days.

[russ_a]

Apologies, I did mean the Discovery not RRS!