Salary sacrifice lease car scheme - Savings for both employer and employee
Key Features:
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The employee may or may not conduct business mileage.
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The employer makes no contribution towards the cost of the lease vehicle.
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The employee makes a contribution for all of the cost of leasing the vehicle they have chosen from their gross monthly salary.
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The employee will typically be receiving a gross full time salary in excess of £19,500 (or prorate for part time) to enable a sacrifice which does not take them below the National Living Wage during the duration of the lease.
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A vehicle is typically leased for a 3 year period on a fully maintained basis.
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The contractual arrangement for the vehicle is between the leasing company and the employer.
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The employee signs an agreement between themselves and the employer detailing agreement to the quoted monthly gross salary deduction in addition to complying with the terms and conditions of the scheme. This is in effect a change to their terms and conditions of employment.
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The employer will typically insure the leased vehicle on a fleet policy in order that they can be assured their liability for the asset is covered and in their control.
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The driver will be liable to pay benefit in kind tax on the leased vehicle, the amount of which will depend on the price, Co2 emissions of the chosen vehicle.
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Similarly the employer will be liable to pay benefit in kind employer’s national insurance contributions on the leased vehicle, the amount of which will depend on the price, Co2 emissions of the chosen vehicle.
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Vehicle chose will be restricted to those with a Co2 emissions rate 75 g/km or below. These vehicles are typically a plug in electric hybrid.
Quotations & Savings:
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How you choose to structure the quotation for the employee is largely at the discretion of the employer however it is important to consider whether making the scheme less financially favourable may mean you do not achieve some of your other fleet objectives.
By reducing an employee’s gross salary in return for the benefit of a leased vehicle the employer will achieve employer national insurance contribution savings and potentially pension contribution savings dependent on the pension scheme in place. These savings can be recouped 100% by the employer, shared with the employee in reducing the quotation or passed on solely to the employee dependent upon the objectives you are aiming to achieve with your scheme.
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Thought should be given to the following potential costs in structuring quotations​:
Policy:
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It is key to ensure that the terms and conditions signed by the employee mirror those between the leasing company and employer. Robust T&C’s will mitigate any additional costs levied by the leasing company being paid by the employer rather than the employee. These charges are deducted from net salary.
Examples of typically additional charges:
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Rechargeable maintenance costs not covered in the maintenance package.
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Damage identified when the vehicle is returned.
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Excess mileage charges.
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Insurance excess charges.
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Early termination charges.
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Insurance premium and the likelihood of it increasing over the duration of the lease.
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Employer National Insurance Contributions on benefit in kind.
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Any non-recoverable VAT for the employer.
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Any contingency fund the employer wants to create to mitigate any unexpected/unrecoverable costs associated with the scheme.
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Fleet Management administration Fee.
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Internal administration fee.
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To View an Example Quotation Please Click Here
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