Clever dealerships and leasing companies are being advised to embrace the changes in Capital Allowance rules as an opportunity to shift high end premium cars.
Under new rules cars that emit under 160g/km of CO2 will be much cheaper to run however because the whole system has switched from a price-of-vehicle based tax to an environmental tax several premium cars are benefiting from the change.
Expensive prestige cars such as the Jaguar XK convertible, which is powered by a 5-litre V8 petrol engine that pumps out 264g/km CO2 have ironically a much lower tax bill under the new rules.
Lloyds TSB Autolease said a company driver that opts for a Jaguar will slash £71 a month off the company’s tax bill.
Several other premium cars also offer significant tax savings under the new rules.
The Range Rover is now £51 cheaper a month to lease, the BMW 7-Series is £52 cheaper and Mercedes-Benz R-Class £50 cheaper.
“The switch to the new CO2-based corporation tax system rightly encourages more company car drivers to choose cleaner cars, but a strange anomaly is that a few very desirable badges are also much more appealing in tax terms than they have been before,” explained Mark Chessman, deputy managing director of Lloyds TSB Autolease.
“Some choices like the Jaguar XK convertible will save firms more than £2,500 over the course of an average company car lease which, for some status driven executives, will be too good to ignore.”
