Why do I need to show "business use" for a personal lease?
Discussion
I've been looking for a larger car to replace our R56 Mini Cooper S, which is now too small.
Despite only doing 3-5k miles per year, it's not dramatically more expensive to go for a new car (on lease) than a used car of, say, 3 years old. I've been offered a good deal on a Mini Clubman by a leasing intermediary.
I've been asked to show that I use the car "for business", noting that this is advertised as a personal lease with VAT included. I will indeed be using it for business, but my payslips showing ad hoc mileage payments aren't sufficient to meet BMW finance's eligibility criteria.
I've been asked to produce a contract of employment showing eligibility for a car allowance, or to have a letter from my employer stating that I would need the car for work purposes.
This seems a bit much for a personal lease. What's the reasoning behind this - is there some tax advantage to the lease company (presumably being passed on to me by way of a lower lease cost) of my using a personal lease for business?
Despite only doing 3-5k miles per year, it's not dramatically more expensive to go for a new car (on lease) than a used car of, say, 3 years old. I've been offered a good deal on a Mini Clubman by a leasing intermediary.
I've been asked to show that I use the car "for business", noting that this is advertised as a personal lease with VAT included. I will indeed be using it for business, but my payslips showing ad hoc mileage payments aren't sufficient to meet BMW finance's eligibility criteria.
I've been asked to produce a contract of employment showing eligibility for a car allowance, or to have a letter from my employer stating that I would need the car for work purposes.
This seems a bit much for a personal lease. What's the reasoning behind this - is there some tax advantage to the lease company (presumably being passed on to me by way of a lower lease cost) of my using a personal lease for business?
This has been a requirement for leases via BMW Finance for a little while now, previously they would only offer lease products to businesses only but widened their criteria to include business users maybe a year or so ago.
I don't believe it is anything to do with tax advantages, it is more a case of this being their strategy to protect their core PCP retail business which is more profitable and probably retains more brand loyalty/repeat business.
I don't believe it is anything to do with tax advantages, it is more a case of this being their strategy to protect their core PCP retail business which is more profitable and probably retains more brand loyalty/repeat business.
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