Expenses - Vehicle repairs?

[lorettacritchet]

I know this may seem as though someone called Sam has already asked this but my question is a little different.
I have a car and due to the fact it was my first year as a childminder, I claimed everything petrol costs, repairs etc...however speaking to an accountant she told me that i should either decide on just claiming the mileage or a percentage of what ever it was can't remember....unfortunately my first car died soon after so had to buy another and began to put through costs for that too including repairs etc. Now my question is, recently my accountant told me i am only allowed to put through mileage and no repairs? does this sound right to you? Surely repairs goes to the upkeep of the car which is used for work? My accountant is not a specific childminder accountant and doesn't quite seem to know what she is doing in respect of what i can or can't claim for.... does this mean i can't put the costs of the car i had to buy? someone please help :o

[rickysmiths]

You have two choices with regard to cars.

One to claim 45p per mile for every trip you make in relation to cm, that includes school runs, toddler groups, outings, shopping, going to the bank or training etc.

This covers all the expenses of running your car, petrol, servicing and repairs, insurance and tax.

Just as a guide my mileage at 40p per mile for 2010-2011 came to £1754. My actual car costs incl tax, insurance, petrol, servicing and 3 new tyres was £1200 so this more than covers my costs. I can also claim the interest on my car loan as an expense.

or

you opt to claim a % of all the costs of running your car. You then write of the cost of the car.

You have to opt for one system or the other when you have a new car and then stick to that method for the life of the car. You can't chop and change each year.

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I know this may seem as though someone called Sam has already asked this but my question is a little different.
I have a car and due to the fact it was my first year as a childminder, I claimed everything petrol costs, repairs etc...however speaking to an accountant she told me that i should either decide on just claiming the mileage or a percentage of what ever it was can't remember....unfortunately my first car died soon after so had to buy another and began to put through costs for that too including repairs etc. Now my question is, recently my accountant told me i am only allowed to put through mileage and no repairs? does this sound right to you? Surely repairs goes to the upkeep of the car which is used for work? My accountant is not a specific childminder accountant and doesn't quite seem to know what she is doing in respect of what i can or can't claim for.... does this mean i can't put the costs of the car i had to buy? someone please help :o

You have a choice of mileage or a business percentage of the cars cost. Maybe she is trying to advise you to do the mileage.

You should have kept a log anyway so look at the business percentage and how much you could claim and then do .40p per mile and see which is the best

It sounds like you have an old car first time so maybe percentage for this one and unless you next one is newer I think you may find the mileage is better for that one. Can you give some more details - cost of car/business percentage mileage?

for eg a friend of mine has a car and wrote off £6500 last year but her car is worth £17000 and nearly all of her costs are business so her percentage is higher

It doesn't matter whether your accountant is childminder specialist or not as this is the way that vehicles are done everywhere

[lorettacritchet]

But someone said i couldnt chop and change my expense idea re: the car.

I had a laguna when i first started in sept 2010 and it was all part time work then. During that time until oct 2011 my car completely died on me re: alternator which cost me £250 just to fix then later in the year, the gear box died....in oct 2011, i paid £800 for the car i have now. i am working more hours which is roughly between 200 to 300 miles a month....at 45p, doesn't seem much to me but may be i am being greedy? does this mean i can't claim insurance for the car either? would my car not be classed as a capital allowance when next years tax assessment is done?

[Chatterbox Childcare]

You cannot chop and change for a cars life so you can do CD on the first car and mileage on the 2nd

Okay you do 250 a month as a guide which is 3000m a year - how many of these are business miles? Say it is 200 = 200 x 12x.45p = £1080.00

CD would be £800 x 20% = £80 and then you have to work out what part of this £80 is business and even if it was 95% then the max you can claim is £76.00 plus the same percentage of all your bills.

Next year you capital depreciation is £720 x 20% etc until it is down to nothing

Did you ask your accountant to explain all this?

Obviously the more business miles you do the less you can claim. I would look at mileage as an option

[rickysmiths]

But someone said I couldnt chop and change my expense idea re: the car.

I had a laguna when i first started in sept 2010 and it was all part time work then. During that time until oct 2011 my car completely died on me re: alternator which cost me £250 just to fix then later in the year, the gear box died....in oct 2011, i paid £800 for the car i have now. i am working more hours which is roughly between 200 to 300 miles a month....at 45p, doesn't seem much to me but may be i am being greedy? does this mean i can't claim insurance for the car either? would my car not be classed as a capital allowance when next years tax assessment is done?

250 miles a month at 45p per mile works out at £1350 for the year. Does this cover your petrol, tax, insurance, servicing etc? That is the question you need to ask.

To be honest I wouldn't have thought dong it the other way for an £800 car was worth it. I do it the mileage way and I have a new car every 3yrs wjich costs £10-11 thousand pounds.

[lorettacritchet]

I am not very maths minded so get v confused.

All the 250-300 miles are business miles!!!! Dont understand y i can claim less if i do more miles?


You cannot chop and change for a cars life so you can do CD on the first car and mileage on the 2nd

Okay you do 250 a month as a guide which is 3000m a year - how many of these are business miles? Say it is 200 = 200 x 12x.45p = £1080.00

CD would be £800 x 20% = £80 and then you have to work out what part of this £80 is business and even if it was 95% then the max you can claim is £76.00 plus the same percentage of all your bills.

Next year you capital depreciation is £720 x 20% etc until it is down to nothing

Did you ask your accountant to explain all this?

Obviously the more business miles you do the less you can claim. I would look at mileage as an option

[lorettacritchet]

My insurance is £530, my mechanic is reliable and cheap so yeah i guess £300for things like servicing, mot and tax is roughly about £150 every 6 months and petrol £150 a month.




250 miles a month at 45p per mile works out at £1350 for the year. Does this cover your petrol, tax, insurance, servicing etc? That is the question you need to ask.

To be honest I wouldn't have thought dong it the other way for an £800 car was worth it. I do it the mileage way and I have a new car every 3yrs wjich costs £10-11 thousand pounds.

[Chatterbox Childcare]

Are you looking at the whole picture here £150 in petrol to 300 miles is .50p per mile and that is a lot

Lets help

Send the following info

Opening miles from when you got the car
Closing miles as at 31.01.12
How many miles are business and how many are personal
MOT
Service
Repairs
Insurance
Petrol costs
Any other expenses you think you want to claim for

[lorettacritchet]

Debbie,

It's really hard to tell what costs would be on this zafira as only had it for the last 3 months so far have had to fork out £200 for an exhaust/repairs and obviously there's the insurance monthly.

All my business miles (no personal) is between 200 to 300 (I do a lot of picks up and drops off hence why). I usually spend about £120 minimum on petrol a month. Maybe weighing it up, it would be easier to just claim for mileage rather than someone not mathematical minded like me to work it out.

I guess I need to delete all my claims on the car monthly insurance?

[Chatterbox Childcare]

Debbie,

It's really hard to tell what costs would be on this zafira as only had it for the last 3 months so far have had to fork out £200 for an exhaust/repairs and obviously there's the insurance monthly.

All my business miles (no personal) is between 200 to 300 (I do a lot of picks up and drops off hence why). I usually spend about £120 minimum on petrol a month. Maybe weighing it up, it would be easier to just claim for mileage rather than someone not mathematical minded like me to work it out.

I guess I need to delete all my claims on the car monthly insurance?

If you are going to continue using the accountant I would take all the information to them as I mentioned above and let them work it out.