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How to get the best lease deal

Many SMEs are often unsure whether it’ll be more tax efficient to lease the car personally, or through their limited company. Choosing the wrong option could prove costly in terms of someone paying more tax than they need.
Mercedes C Class Estate car leasing offer kew vehicle leasing

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11 April 2021

There are now plenty of leasing companies out there, so no better time to shop around.

The process is basically a long-term rental, where you pay a series of monthly payments until the contract ends. This means that you don’t have to worry about the depreciation of the vehicle, or deal with paying the whole cost of the car.

At the end of the lease, the car can either be returned the car or pay a lesser value to keep it, but what needs to be considering whether you benefit from leasing the car personally or professionally.

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Many SMEs are often unsure whether it’ll be more tax efficient to lease the car personally, or through their limited company. Choosing the wrong option could prove costly in terms of someone paying more tax than they need.

It depends entirely on circumstances with both options having their pros and cons.
When leasing a car through a company, what are the benefits? Well, there tends to be better lease deals for business users and while you still have to pay company car tax, it’s often cheaper than personal car tax.

Leasing through the company and using the car for personal journeys – including commuting between work and home – means the driver is liable for company car tax based on the amount of CO2 the car emits, its P11D value – list price plus any options – and the personal tax bracket.

The higher the CO2 emissions, the higher the company car tax. So if you want a supercar on the company then your wage packet is going to take a big tax hit.

It is possible reduce the amount of tax by only using the car part-time and by paying something towards the costs of the car.

The lease payments, however, are tax deductible for Corporation Tax purposes, so your company does make some savings.

Also, a company can claim back VAT on lease payments, which you would not be able to do as an individual.

You get a new car every three or four years with VED included

What are the benefits of leasing personally rather than through the business? You get a new car every three or four years with VED included and there is no requirement to pay company car tax.

Leasing a car personally also requires a record to be kept of all business mileage which can be reclaimed from the company.

Once you’ve decided which option you are taking, then it’s a question of searching around for the best deal.

As we said at the start there are plenty of leasing businesses around so search out the one that best suits your company.

Bear in mind that the industry is changing all the time as mobility requirements become more sophisticated.

As well as those companies, large and small, some manufacturers have some interesting propositions, particularly in the mobility space.

This year’s winner of Business Motoring’s Best Business Lease was Free2Move, PSA’s in-house leasing business, the result of the merger between the Citroen and Peugeot contract hire products at the beginning of 2017.

It sets itself apart as being a “connected leasing” product. All new PSA cars are now available with a connected ‘box’ as standard or as an option.

This comes with various packages such as telematics or connected and predictive maintenance – the car tells you when it needs a service.

The leasing business is part of PSA’s Free2Move connected and mobility services which is growing all the time. It embodies Groupe PSA’s ambition: becoming the preferred worldwide mobility service provider by 2030.

It is meant to provide the most convenient mobility services, anywhere, anytime, for both end customers and corporate customers.

Although not available yet, there will be an app giving Peugeot and Citroen owners access to all sorts of mobility and concierge services.

Whether you belong to a large corporation, a SME or a public community, look for a leasing product that can provide simple and practical tools for car fleet management

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Chris Wright

Chris Wright

Chris Wright has been covering the automotive industry nationally and internationally for 30 years. Following spells with consumer titles he became News Editor of Automotive Management (AM), Editor of Automotive International, International Editor for Detroit-based Automotive News, and Editor of Dealer Update. He has also co-authored several FT Management Reports and contributes regularly to Justauto.com

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