Taxi Driver Online

The car i bought in October has had its cost covered by contracts (one invoice due in), I still worry about problems but not losing money on it....

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

ok so what i am thinking is to buy a car a few years old, either a mondeo or an insignia. I am lucky enough to be able to borrow some of the money from a family member and the rest i will get on finance. Even if my insurance was £4000 a year as opposed to £60 p/w i pay now, am i right in thinking that my weekly cost for the car not including petrol would be less than £100?

£4,000 a year for insurance is £80.00 per week. That doesn't leave much out of your £100 per week for everything else.

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Grandad,

Look again at the figures I gave above. I reckon your car costs are about £348 a week, not £100. Did you remember costs of your badge/medical/CRB/phone/advertising (business cards).....

Every case, driver, car and postcode is different and affect costs

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

In Tamworth a scabby X reg E7 (inc plate/base/insurance/all in) is £168 a week, in Lichfield one base wants £150/week for the base rent alone

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

Yep, agreed. Deposit for a lease car I usually a month up front, but some may want 3 months, so about £1200. It does pay to have a good credit check history!

As you say, insurance WILL vary according to the applicant's age/postcode/driving history etc.

I did make adjustments in my calculations for the ort of premiums he says he'll have to pay.

and most leases have mileage restrictions after which they charge 10p to 15p a mile extra for, plus VAT, leasing would mean VAT registration could be attractive and VAT is paid on lease fees

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

<--- my car is leased. Though because of my job I had to put down 6 months deposit (obvious this meant the monthly payments will be cheaper). You choose the mileage limit, you can get 50,000 mile limit policies, which should be sufficient for most. Just ensure you got the V5 (or a copy of), if the local authority requires it when you get the car plated. Some leasing companies keep hold of it, sometimes you have it in your name.

are you VAT registered?

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

It doesn't realy matter if someone is VAT registered or not as long as they have a profit to write the purchase down. The VAT is either reclaimed direct in the relevent quarter or it is claimed against tax at the end of the year.

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Grandad,

No, I don't see the benefits of being VAT registered - more paperwork, more work for myself and accountant, VAT invoices have to be raised to companies and clients I do work for on account.

I haven't closely looked at the ins and outs of being VAT registered, but I'm sure my accountant would advise me to do so if it's worthwhile.

have you ever considered what VAT youd get back (or rather never pay out) per quarter though?

you already raise invoices for account work surely?

as for accountants, bah humbug...

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

It would mean that I would have to pay VAT on my income, which would mean raising fares by 20%. The companies/clients I work for who are not VAT registered won't be able to claim that back, so they will go elsewhere, and unless I absorb the price rise, then my income will be down.

Actually it is not quite like that. It all depends on how much you can claim back and the ratio of VAT registered customers to non VAT registered customers. In some cases businesses prefer to work with VAT registered customers. For instance if your revenue before VAT is £10,000 per month the VAT would be £2,000. However if your VAT registered customers accounted for £9,000 of the revenue, you would in effect be charging your non VAT registered customers £200 extra. Now providing that the VAT that you can reclaim is more than the £200 then you can absorb the VAT from your non VAT registered customers and not be out of pocket. Also any extra VAT that you can reclaim over the £200 is money in your pocket. Just remember that the VAT that you collect from your customers is not your money so don't spend it.

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Grandad,