Another OT-ish question.....

Yep. I just had a really good idea of a new product called "I can't believe it is butter." It's basically a butter, but it actually tastes like margarine. Could be big.

Peter

Car allowance is usually related to your postion, managers tend to get around 400 a month, engineers around 300 a month, depends on the starting salary.

This is around the 300 quid / month mark. So I assume you either pick from a list of cars at that rate, or get that in cash every month?

In my case, it's pence per mile. Which maybe sounds a bit naff, but I get

40p /mile and I do around 9500 business miles a year. That's why I run a banger. Motoring is now a profit making scheme for me. P.S. Car allowance is far better for you than a company car, but I'm sure you knew that anyway. I pay £100 a month less in PAYE now that I don't have a company car.

As said elsewhere, they may actually want to lease you a car. Unless you're desperately keen on having a brand new car, avoid this if given the opportunity.

All IMHO

Just think of it as extra salary - taxed exactly the same. Sometimes they add conditions: your car must be less than x years old etc.

Ahhh, right, that makes sense.

Unfortunately, if it's taxable, the range of leased cars looks deeply distressing.

Yep. 300/month after tax isn't going to go very far on a personally financed car.

Have you asked about a company-provided car instead of an allowance? The peace of mind and shiny factor of a brand new 147 or 156 in the drive is not something to be dismissed out of hand.

It's something I'll ask before I accept an offer. At the moment I'm just working out if it's worth moving for a similar salary on the basis of possible bonus payments and the car allowance.

More to the point, whats the commute like to the new place?

Where I work does it if you're likely to cover more than x thousand business miles per year. They give you something like =A3400 per month on top of your normal salary, taxed and NI'd as if it were your salary.

You choose the car, or just use your existing car if it fits the criteria, those being: It must be kept in good working order and good visual condition It must be insured Class 1 business use It must be able to seat four (people are really stretching this buying Audi TT and Mini Cooper S etc) I don't think age is so much a factor. There's a guy with a wanky MK1 Saab 9-3 and I'm pretty sure my TI would qualify. You must use your car instead of public transport unless it really is absolutely necessary to use public transport, or if the client is paying for your travel.

Instead of the usual 40p per mile expense claim you get a *lot* less and it depends on engine size, petrol or diesel etc.

People tend to either use it to pay all their car running costs and run an older car or use it to buy a better car than they'd otherwise be able to afford.

My company does it because people were being so highly taxed on company cars since the new rules that people were finding it more expensive to have the "benefit" of a company car than to run their own one.

Cheers, that sounds like this deal.

That's OK, I'm sure I could justify using the Panzerwagen for a bit longer, then. Although it would definitely favour a diesel.