Saturday, May 19, 2007

Another assault on cars by Gordon Brown

Over the last 10 years this government has done just about everything it can o tax company cars of the road.

In some cases these cars were no more than a way of paying an employee by another means but in many more they were a way of the employer providing a vital tool for work. Some of us do have to drive during working hours.

The net result has been that many people who use cars for company work have ended up owning their own and charging the company for using them. It is either that or get heavily penalised in tax. A lot of voluntary workers do the same, providing their own cars and then charging back mileage at an agreed rate.

Well, now the government wants to cut the amount that can be paid in mileage before you start getting taxed. According to the AA they will in fact cut the allowance to less than it actually costs to run a car. The net result will be that the government is forcing employees to either pay more tax by the back door or subsidise their employer.

The Telegraph has this.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

There's a lot of people who do thousands of miles a year ,I used to do about 70,000 in a company car,the only time it was used by me was to go to Tesco's on a saturday ,if I was at home and not stuck in a hotel somewhere ,changed job ,now on 5 day week + all the usual holidays,can go by bus or bike ,and don't have to be up till 7:00 am ,instead of getting up a 4am or 5 am to get to a certain place before 9am ,did it for 20years ,when I realised I was working for goverment and they were getting the pounds and I was just getting the pennies.

Benedict White said...

Anonymous, Yes, you do get to a point of wondering who you are working for!

I am pleased you have an easier life!

The Deplorable Old Bulldog said...

Geroge Harrison-"There's one for you nineteen for me".

Independence from income tax day over here is mid May. That ignores the taxation of every modern commodity over here in the states.

We also have insance traffic enforcement where I live-it literally subsidizes local government. Combined with the nanny laws its kind of like living in the pre Magna Carta days.

Benedict White said...

The Real Sporer, I forget when our freedom from tax day is, but it is later than yours and has been moving the wrong way for some time.

I agree that regulations can seem very petty sometimes though. That is something that politicians need to think about.