Accountant advised a 4 yr lease as most tax efficient way to buy an '07 Alfa Romeo

M

Magicpony

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Hi,
I am buying an '07 Alfa Romeo 159. My accountant advised a 4 year lease as the most tax efficient way to go about it.
Can anyone advise me as to where the 'best value' can be found for a leasing agreement, aside from the dealer?
Thanks in advance!
 
Re: Accountant advised a 4 yr lease as most tax efficient way to buy an '07 Alfa Rome

Lease does not equal buy, a lease is a rental of an item for specific. You sure this person is an accountant.

Is the Alfa to be used for business purposes? If not then I wont even bother getting into a discussion about the tax efficiencies of buy v lease
 
I did that -> Try Lombard or BOSI.

Don't buy an Alfa. Go for a car with rock solid residuals. Alfa's have savage depreciation.
 
Thanks so much for feedback, though I am more confused now! Yes, the car is for business use only. I have researched most cars I liked on cbg.ie and the Alfa 159 got a great rating, so I think I am ok.
Didn't know about the 'savage depreciation' though. Any suggestions for another car to go for? p.s. as a female, the Alfa appealed!
 
How long do you plan on keeping this car for? If you sell it after a year or so you will have to pay off lease and you will find you have nothing paid only interest. A loan might be a better option if you do not plan on holding on to the car for a few years.
 
Re: Accountant advised a 4 yr lease as most tax efficient way to buy an '07 Alfa Rome

First of all, you needn't worry about residuals if you are leasing, it's not your problem, you won't own the car!

You should consider (based on the class of car you have chosen):

1. Volvo S40: great looking car, so should be appealing to you in that department. It's also very safe, reliable, refined and comfortable. Really good Diesel engine as well as good petrol engines.

2. Seat Leon: Also very good looking car, from Volkswagen-Audi group, and very good reliability. Safe as well. Well priced as well.

3. Nissan Qashqai: slighly less good looking than others but more or less in the same price range. Reliability should be really good as the badge suggest, and according to all reviews it's a great car. It might be a bit big for you though?

Of all the above I think S40 would be the best option and far better that the Alfa.
 
Re: Accountant advised a 4 yr lease as most tax efficient way to buy an '07 Alfa Rome

I went to Lombard for a 4-year finance lease on a Toyota LandCruiser for my business. Very good rates, especially if you are an Ulster Bank customer. I think I got about 6.75% or 6.9%, can't quite remember but I know it was far less than the garages were offering.

If it is purely a lease, then as posters have said residual value is of no concern to you at this point. However, if it is a finance lease (ie; you will own the vehicle after the last payment) then it's depreciation is something to be concerned about. This is the type of finance I am on, so the Toyota was a sure bet for me.

If the vehicle is for business use, but with some small private use, then you should consider a commercial vehicle. The BIK is only 5%, as opposed to 30% on the Alfa.
 
Hi Pony

On what basis did the accountant advise you to lease the car? It really is not a good idea, if you can borrow the money instead.

But it would be interesting to see your accountant's rationale.

Brendan
 
Re: Accountant advised a 4 yr lease as most tax efficient way to buy an '07 Alfa Rome

muffinsda said:
First of all, you needn't worry about residuals if you are leasing, it's not your problem, you won't own the car!
Click to expand...

Is this correct? - I thought that leasing payments will take into account the residual value of the car at the end of the lease and so higher depreciating cars will have higher payment amounts. So even though you don't "see" the depreciation as you don't own the car you still "see" it in your monthly payments.
 
I would advise on a Loan rather than Lease.

You cant claim capital allowances on a leased asset.

You cant claim lease repayments as tax deductible trading expense, but you can claim lease interest (or have it the wrong way wrong there.)

You still depreciate the asset in the accounts however you have to add it back in your tax comp as depreciation is not tax allowed.
 

this is wrong.

You can claim a tax deduction for the full amount of the lease payments and so you'd get a full write off of the car (subject to the Revenue limit) over the term of the lease (say 4 years) rather than over 8 years if you got a loan and bought the car.
 
Re: Accountant advised a 4 yr lease as most tax efficient way to buy an '07 Alfa Rome

Yes, this is what I was told. Rather than purchasing with a loan (where the vehicle becomes an asset) you can finance lease and all costs relating to the vehicle therefore become regular expenses.

Perhaps there is confusion here between regular 'leasing' and 'finance leasing'?

EDIT: I think the confusion lies solely with me . I am thinking of 'Hire Purchase'.
 
Brendan, thanks for your response. Buttermilkja has given the same explanation as my accountant gave me. He said that a finance lease over 4 years is the most tax-efficient way to go.
If he is wrong, please advise before I sign the dotted line!
 
It is the most tax efficient way to go but that's not to say it is the best way to go.
 
Magicpony said:
Brendan, thanks for your response. Buttermilkja has given the same explanation as my accountant gave me. He said that a finance lease over 4 years is the most tax-efficient way to go.
If he is wrong, please advise before I sign the dotted line!
Click to expand...

The tax efficiency of what you intend is one thing - but would you not have second thoughts about the car? maybe depreciation won't matter much in your case, but there is a good chance that the car will break your heart with chronic electrical problems.
 
The payments on the finance lease will include VAT. You may be entitled to recovery of the VAT portion of the repayments.

Do some research on residual value of cars over a 4 year period.

Good luck
 
Re: Accountant advised a 4 yr lease as most tax efficient way to buy an '07 Alfa Rome

Skyscout said:
The payments on the finance lease will include VAT. You may be entitled to recovery of the VAT portion of the repayments.
Click to expand...

Not on a car, you won't
 
Re: Accountant advised a 4 yr lease as most tax efficient way to buy an '07 Alfa Rome

Personally I think the 159 is ****e. It doesn't even look that good in my opinion. Your money would be better spent on a 3 Series I'm ashamed to say, they cost more but they hold their value alot better. I would recommend the new C Class but they seem to be rather dear and still have that "ould fella" tag attached to them. The A4 would be a good choice, but that is nearing retirement.

The Alfa 159 is so inferior to the 156 it replaced. It's stodgy to drive, it looks fat and oddly proportioned and their is still a question mark over reliablity. Now I am probably going to get a flaming for saying this, but I needed to get it off my chest...
 
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