[DJW]

Bear with me ………
My van is seventeen years old and paid for. For various reasons I need to commute to pick it up every day.

If I got shot of my car and ran a new van in place of a car I would always have a back up van.

Could I claim any tax concessions on it?
Brainy types only.

[Slacky]

I believe so. If you believe this is what your business needs then yes.

[NWH]

I may do this myself a car for canvassing.

[Spruce]

Bear with me ………
My van is seventeen years old and paid for. For various reasons I need to commute to pick it up every day.

If I got shot of my car and ran a new van in place of a car I would always have a back up van.

Could I claim any tax concessions on it?
Brainy types only.

I don't know about the brainy types only answering.

Yes, you can run 2 different vans as a sole trader. But whatever you decide to do, you need to be able to justify to the receiver why you run your business the way you do. That 17 year old van has very little commercial value (apart from scrap value) with the receiver, so you are justified in having a new van that does have a value. 

As long as your return every year to the receiver makes sense by fitting into their business algorithm, then they generally won't investigate you.

If you were using your new van to commute to where your old van is parked and then using the old van for work, then that would be considered private mileage by HMRC. The beauty about working from home is that the moment you get into the driver's seat to go to your first house to clean, then that's business mileage.

[Stoots]

Firstly are you Ltd?

If so there's the issue of benefit in kind.

If not then it depends whether you claim a mileage rate or whether you claim a percentage of the actual expenses of running a vehicle

[DJW]

Good answers.
It would appear there is no benefit tax wise as the second smaller van would simply replace a car I commute in and I guess wouldn’t qualify as a company vehicle.
I was thinking more along the lines of offsetting the initial cost through the business.
My accountant sorts that kind of stuff out. I normally glaze over when we discuss things.

[Stoots]

Good answers.
It would appear there is no benefit tax wise as the second smaller van would simply replace a car I commute in and I guess wouldn’t qualify as a company vehicle.
I was thinking more along the lines of offsetting the initial cost through the business.
My accountant sorts that kind of stuff out. I normally glaze over when we discuss things.

When you say company vehicle do you mean you have a Ltd company?

As if you are a sole trader there's no such thing as a company vehicle, if you are buying a commercial vehicle you can either  write the whole thing off along with the running costs minus any private use or just claim the mileage only for business use.

Just ask an accountant   

[EandM]

I bought the green Ranger 11 years ago and it served as a brilliant work vehicle.

Upgraded to the black Ranger 2.5 years ago but kept the green one as a backup.
Very useful for delivering ladders, gutter vac, steam cleaner etc to jobs when the primary is full or unavailable.

The total legal operating cost (except fuel) is £10 a week for the backup and it's great to have options.

Both trucks claiming nearly 90% by my accountant as there's very little private use of either.

[DJW]

How would one differentiate between private and commercial mileage anyway?

[EandM]

How would one differentiate between private and commercial mileage anyway?

HMRC seems happy with an accountant's approximation.

90/10 on both my trucks.
20/80 on my car.

[dazmond]

Why would you need a back up van if your a sole trader?

It doesn't make sense esp if your new work van is brand new...you'll probably get at least 10  years problem free driving esp if it's just used for work.

It's not worth keeping the old van on the road on the off chance you might need it for a few days occasionally

[DJW]

The idea was to continue with the old van for work. The new van would be my ‘car’. Modern smaller vans are pretty economical to run. I don’t need more than two seats anyway, then should the old van fall apart I’d have another more compact van ready to go. New Berlingos have an excellent carrying capacity. If you buy the same van with a Toyota badge it comes with 10 years warranty.
You have a VW Golf I’d have a van. Not that much different at the end of the day. Just transport for me.

I probably won’t do it but it was a thought.

[deeege]

The idea was to continue with the old van for work. The new van would be my ‘car’. Modern smaller vans are pretty economical to run. I don’t need more than two seats anyway, then should the old van fall apart I’d have another more compact van ready to go. New Berlingos have an excellent carrying capacity. If you buy the same van with a Toyota badge it comes with 10 years warranty.
You have a VW Golf I’d have a van. Not that much different at the end of the day. Just transport for me.

I probably won’t do it but it was a thought.

Why not use the new van van for work and personal and get rid of the 17 year old van then? It’ll start costing a pretty penny to keep on the road at that age anyway.

The new berlingos are great btw, just got my 4th new one, are as comfortable as a car and drive like one too.

[DJW]

Because I commute to the base where my van is kept. Personally I’d be loathe to use a new van for work. Seems such a waste.
The old van has cost me nothing. over about ten years other than servicing. Not even a set of brake pads.
Oh I did fit new batteries about five years ago.

[EandM]

Because I commute to the base where my van is kept. Personally I’d be loathe to use a new van for work. Seems such a waste.
The old van has cost me nothing. over about ten years other than servicing. Not even a set of brake pads.
Oh I did fit new batteries about five years ago.

That was how I arrived at my situation.
It had been so reliable for so long and cost so little to keep going that I realised I was never going to get enough back for it to offset just how useful it was to me.
£10 a week was a No brainer really.

[deeege]

Because I commute to the base where my van is kept. Personally I’d be loathe to use a new van for work. Seems such a waste.
The old van has cost me nothing. over about ten years other than servicing. Not even a set of brake pads.
Oh I did fit new batteries about five years ago.

Fair enough. I see it as the opposite, I spend a fair amount of time in my van, travelling between jobs, working from it etc so would prefer it to be as new and nice as possible.

It would be a waste to have a new van and not use it for work imo.

[dazmond]

I love getting a nice new car every 3 years for leisure which is totally separate from my work life.

One work van is enough for me.

[deeege]

I love getting a nice new car every 3 years for leisure which is totally separate from my work life.

One work van is enough for me.

Your car isn’t tax deductible Daz, which it seems is what DJW is trying to achieve here 

[DJW]

That was my way of thinking. I don’t need a’normal’ car. A van that drives like a car is more useful to me. I can chuck coal in the back, bicycles or whatever. Convert it to a wfp van almost overnight if required.

[Smudger]

you can have as many vans as you like as a sole trader

it would be easy to justify having old and new van - and the very best reason is th exact reason you want it - continue to use the old van with the new van as "back-up"

As long as your business supports the cost of 2 vans or 3 vans its not a problem

But always check with your accountant for the best course of action for liability

Darran