Car and Van club vehicles can be booked by members for any length of time from 30 minutes, with the flexibility to increase the booking period to anything from an hour up to a whole weekend, or longer by arrangement.
Book online, by app or by phone
Drive for as long as you’ve booked it for (increasing if you need to)
Pay direct from your account (based on hours used and mileage)
Convenient car use
The convenience of a car without the hassle of owning one – no more servicing, insurance, parking, MOT, repairs
Self-service
Cars are accessible to members at all hours
Saves you money
According to Carplus, joining a car club could save you £3,500 per year compared to owning a car (if you currently drive fewer than 6,000 miles per year)
Protect the environment
Car club vehicles are energy efficient and cleaner than the average car. They also reduce the need to own a car and discourage unnecessary car travel. Some car clubs offer electric vehicles (EVs) which emit neither harmful CO2 nor air pollutants from the tailpipe
It makes a big difference whether a vehicle is treated as a Car or a Van for tax purposes, in summary:
Benefit in Kind on Cars is linked to CO2 where as on a Van its Flat Rate (and could be zero if your private use is insignificant)
Vans qualify for the Annual Investment Allowance, Cars have restricted Capital Allowances
You can reclaim VAT on Vans but its much harder to reclaim VAT on cars
HMRC have some guidance in EIM23150….
Under this measure, a double cab pick-up that has a payload of 1 tonne (1,000kg) or more is accepted as a van for benefits purposes. Payload means gross vehicle weight (or design weight) less unoccupied kerb weight (care is needed when looking at manufacturers’ brochures as they sometimes define payload differently).
Under a separate agreement between Customs and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), a hard top consisting of metal, fibre glass or similar material, with or without windows, is accorded a generic weight of 45kg. Therefore the addition of a hard top to a double cab pick-up with an ex-works payload of 1,010 kg will convert the vehicle into a car (net payload reduced to 965 kg). Under this agreement, the weight of all other optional accessories is disregarded. HMRC has also adopted this treatment.
Kombi’s have been a grey area, but not any more, following the case of Noel Payne v HMRC as reported by Croner Taxwise…
Under ITEPA 2003 S.115, a van is a vehicle where its primary construction is for the conveyance of goods or burden. Kombi vans and those similar have not previously been thought to fall into this category due to them being designed to carry both goods and people. Historically, HMRC has offered a concession from 2002/2003 onwards for vehicles of a very similar construction, double cab pickups (including both uncovered and covered models), if the payload capacity of the pickup exceeds a metric tonne. HMRC accepts that these vehicles can be treated as a van for benefit in kind purposes.
With such similarities in the construction of the Kombi van, this has led to this concession being applied to the Kombi vans as well. However, in Noel Payne vs HMRC, a judgment was reached that the primary construction of the kombi van was not for the conveyance of goods alone but rather that its purpose was for the conveyance of both goods and people equally. This means that the Kombi did not meet the requirement to be considered to be a van and therefore for benefit in kind purposes it is a car.
The advice from Croner is that from now on Kombi’s and any van built to carry passengers should now be treated as a car for benefit in kind purposes, the case did involve a Vivaro as well but that was manufactured as a Van and later converted so that was allowed to be treated as a Van.
This also has implications for VAT and Capital Allowances.
Commercial Vehicles are tax efficient which ever option you choose and provided your employees agree to minimal private use they won’t have to pay any benefit in kind tax on using the vehicle.
But its important to make sure the vehicle you choose is actually a van and not classed as a car. For example double cab pick ups are extremely popular and it makes a big difference whether a double cab pick up is treated as Car or a Van for tax purposes, in summary:
Benefit in Kind on Cars is linked to CO2 where as on a Van its Flat Rate (and could be zero if your private use is insignificant)
Vans qualify for the Annual Investment Allowance, Cars have restricted Capital Allowances
You can reclaim VAT on Vans but its much harder to reclaim VAT on cars
HMRC have some guidance in EIM23150….
Under this measure, a double cab pick-up that has a payload of 1 tonne (1,000kg) or more is accepted as a van for benefits purposes. Payload means gross vehicle weight (or design weight) less unoccupied kerb weight (care is needed when looking at manufacturers’ brochures as they sometimes define payload differently).
Under a separate agreement between Customs and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), a hard top consisting of metal, fibre glass or similar material, with or without windows, is accorded a generic weight of 45kg. Therefore the addition of a hard top to a double cab pick-up with an ex-works payload of 1,010 kg will convert the vehicle into a car (net payload reduced to 965 kg). Under this agreement, the weight of all other optional accessories is disregarded. HMRC has also adopted this treatment.
A double cab with a payload in excess of 1000kg can still be classified as a car if the taxman dealing with the case decides it is a car. You may have to justify a genuine business need for the vehicle.
Annual Investment Allowance
Since January 2016 the Annual Investment Allowance has been permanently set at £200,000, which means the first £200,000 you spend on assets, including Commercial Vehicles (vans), will be offset against your tax bill immediately. This applies to both the self employed and companies.
So if the buy your van, even if you get with a loan or on hire purchase, you should be able to make a big tax saving in the first year.
However, just remember that when you sell the vehicle there will be a balancing charge for tax, basically this means that the total tax offset will be the purchase price less residual value.
If you have already used up your AIA you will still be able to claim Capital Allowances.
If you lease the vehicle you can not claim AIA or Capital Allowances as you don’t own the vehicle.
VAT
If you buy the vehicle you will be entitled to full VAT refund, if you lease it you can reclaim the VAT on each Lease Payment (which slows down the recovery of VAT).
If you buy the Van when you later sell it you must charge VAT on the sale price.
Deposits
Cash flow might be a reason to choose a lease as its likely the deposit will be less than if you get a loan or HP.
Flexibility
If you need different vehicles for different staff at different times, leasing might be a good flexible option.
It makes a big difference whether a double cab pick up is treated as Car or a Van for tax purposes, in summary:
Benefit in Kind on Cars is linked to CO2 where as on a Van its Flat Rate (and could be zero if your private use is insignificant)
Vans qualify for the Annual Investment Allowance, Cars have restricted Capital Allowances
You can reclaim VAT on Vans but its much harder to reclaim VAT on cars
HMRC have some guidance in EIM23150….
Under this measure, a double cab pick-up that has a payload of 1 tonne (1,000kg) or more is accepted as a van for benefits purposes. Payload means gross vehicle weight (or design weight) less unoccupied kerb weight (care is needed when looking at manufacturers’ brochures as they sometimes define payload differently).
Under a separate agreement between Customs and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), a hard top consisting of metal, fibre glass or similar material, with or without windows, is accorded a generic weight of 45kg. Therefore the addition of a hard top to a double cab pick-up with an ex-works payload of 1,010 kg will convert the vehicle into a car (net payload reduced to 965 kg). Under this agreement, the weight of all other optional accessories is disregarded. HMRC has also adopted this treatment.
A double cab with a payload in excess of 1000kg can still be classified as a car if the taxman dealing with the case decides it is a car. You may have to justify a genuine business need for the vehicle.
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