Claiming Car Costs - A Refresher

The rules changed in 2009 and some key points are:

Cars purchased from April 2009: 

Co2 emissions	Amount of claim
Up to and including 110g/km	100% first year allowance
Up to and including 160g/km	20% per year
Over 160g/km	10% per year

Cars leased from April 2009:              

                 

Co2 emissions	Amount of claim
Up to and including 160g/km	Profit & Loss charge allowed in full as a deduction in computing taxable profits
Over 160g/km	15% disallowance of rental expenses

Pre-April 2009 cars:

 

Cost	Amount of claim
Under £12,000	Treatment is unchanged
£12,000 and over	20% per year

Basically it now takes a business much longer to receive the tax relief.

Overall, it’s still too difficult to say whether having a company car is better or taking a higher salary is.