Thread: Car allowance. novated lease vs tax claim

Originally Posted by pibby

can a car older than say 3 years be under a novated lease? looked into this 15 years ago and that's what i recall from then. times have probably changed.

Probably depends on lease provider. Mine will do up to 2007 model D3.

Much of my working life I had a company car with full private use. I can't understand why workers want to buy a work vehicle that should be provided by the employer if one is needed to carry out your duties. It feels to me like giving part of your salary back to the boss by relieving him of the responsibility of providing an essential tool.

Originally Posted by Brian Hjelm

Much of my working life I had a company car with full private use. I can't understand why workers want to buy a work vehicle that should be provided by the employer if one is needed to carry out your duties. It feels to me like giving part of your salary back to the boss by relieving him of the responsibility of providing an essential tool.

That is not the case for me. I can novated a car which is not a company car.

If the car is leased then a proportion of the repayment costs are pre-tax. Don't forget, you're paying interest on the car loan.

If you own the car, then you can depreciate it (I think it's 26.5%p/a) and claim the running costs at percentage of work use (as determined by ATO formula).

If your car is a commercial vehicle [1,000kg + payload] (truck, van, ute or dual cab ute with a cargo capacity that exceeds the passenger capacity) then you claim 100%.

There is a miscellaneous tax ruling that classes the defender 110 SW as a commercial vehicle.

So say you bought a 2nd hand Defender for $30K (on the road)

Your deductions may look like this

Depreciation $7,800
Registration $780
Insurance $800
Fuel $3,000
Service & Repairs $2,000
Accessories (that form part of the car) $2,500
Tyres $1,200

Total claim for Yr 1 - $18,800
If your tax rate is 37% then you're savings are $6,689

If you leased the car (some lease companies won't lease a commercial vehicle) the above would all be deductions, but you would not have the depreciation, and you would be paying interest on the loan.

So if your employer allows you to lease a car, and you can't legitimately claim it, then leasing is a better option. If the car can be claimed as a deduction, then consider proportion of work use to figure out what plan gives you the best return. If it's a commercial vehicle and you can claim all of it, then provided you can afford to buy it up front, owning it is better.

Originally Posted by Brian Hjelm

Much of my working life I had a company car with full private use. I can't understand why workers want to buy a work vehicle that should be provided by the employer if one is needed to carry out your duties. It feels to me like giving part of your salary back to the boss by relieving him of the responsibility of providing an essential tool.

A number of people, myself included, are given the choice - be given a company car from a narrow list of available makes & models (which may or may not fit with what you would choose, or even want to use privately) or be given a car allowance and lease your own.

In my case, the list comprised a Falcon or Commodore sedan, or I could downgrade a level and get a Cruze.

Always a bit tricky getting a dog in a sedan.

Originally Posted by rar110

Probably depends on lease provider. Mine will do up to 2007 model D3.

I think you will find the vehicle cant be older than 7 years old at the end of the lease unless its a "collectible".I did get a quote on an XB GT Falcon a couple of years back,the novate lease company were happy to do it,accountant advised against it.
Andrew

Thanks all, am thinking a dualcab which comes in as exempt will be the go. I could get a Camry provided but don't want a yota.

Some lease companies allow for older vehicles. My D2a will be 12 years old at the end of the lease. Plus they let me do my own services and refund parts & oil invoices.

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