Commercial car / van tax

crownroot

Hi all. I'm a PAYE worker and I drive a VW Golf van which is privately taxed and is crippling me at nearly €700. Does anyone know how I could get commercial tax on it which is closer to €300 I think?? Also will I need commercial insurance?? Thanks folks for any ideas

SeanW

You have to actually have a commercial use for commercial tax. It's also a requirement to only use the vehicle for commercial reasons.

Victor

Moved from Soc > Infrastructure > Roads

Moderator

corktina

SeanW wrote: »

You have to actually have a commercial use for commercial tax. It's also a requirement to only use the vehicle for commercial reasons.

You can get commercial tax but you would have to sign an undertaking not to use it privately

bazz26

The savings could be swings and roundabouts taxing it commercially v privately when you consider you have to do the DOE every 12 months so do the maths first.

Bpmull

bazz26 wrote: »

The savings could be swings and roundabouts taxing it commercially v privately when you consider you have to do the DOE every 12 months so do the maths first.

You have to doe well cvrt it every year regardless of what way it's taxed commercially or privately.

BMWKTM

I have the same issue as the original poster.
What is deemed to be commercial use?
Can i say that on occasions i use the van for work when i have to carry tools for my employer?
If i do say that do i have to show proof of payment from the company?
Any advice would be appreciated.

The_Pretender

BMWKTM wrote: »

I have the same issue as the original poster.
What is deemed to be commercial use?
Can i say that on occasions i use the van for work when i have to carry tools for my employer?
If i do say that do i have to show proof of payment from the company?
Any advice would be appreciated.

You're only allowed to use it for commercial purposes.

corktina

The_Pretender wrote: »

You're only allowed to use it for commercial purposes.

Yep, you'd have to declare you wont use it for other purposes.

Bpmull

BMWKTM wrote: »

I have the same issue as the original poster.
What is deemed to be commercial use?
Can i say that on occasions i use the van for work when i have to carry tools for my employer?
If i do say that do i have to show proof of payment from the company?
Any advice would be appreciated.

You would have to sign a deceleration to say you use it for work all the time. At the end of the day it's hard to know what's right. If a guard stops you and you have some tools in the back how can they prove that your not using it for work even if at the time you were using it for private use. If the van is taxed, has a cvrt, insured is in good working order then I couldn't see a guard having a problem with what way it's taxed. That's just my view I could be completely wrong. However if the van is only ever used for private use and never commerical well then taxing it commercially is wrong and would be easy to catch a owner if there is nothing in the van such as tools just my view though.

D Trent

So is the commercial tax disc a different colour to the private road tax disc or does it say on disc 'commercial' or wat?

crownroot

I don't think the guards really care. I'm more concerned if there was an accident would I be covered so lets say I'm travelling to my PAYE day job am I covered if I have an accident as it's not commercial use? Thanks to everyone for feedback

homingbird

Tax & insurance are 2 different things so you should be covered.

Cleveland Hot Pocket

crownroot wrote: »

I don't think the guards really care. I'm more concerned if there was an accident would I be covered so lets say I'm travelling to my PAYE day job am I covered if I have an accident as it's not commercial use? Thanks to everyone for feedback

Sure if non-taxed cars are covered, surely commercially taxed ones are!

BMWKTM

Bpmull wrote: »

You would have to sign a deceleration to say you use it for work all the time. At the end of the day it's hard to know what's right. If a guard stops you and you have some tools in the back how can they prove that your not using it for work even if at the time you were using it for private use. If the van is taxed, has a cvrt, insured is in good working order then I couldn't see a guard having a problem with what way it's taxed. That's just my view I could be completely wrong. However if the van is only ever used for private use and never commerical well then taxing it commercially is wrong and would be easy to catch a owner if there is nothing in the van such as tools just my view though.

Thanks for the feedback, i think any guard in his right mind would have to accept if you have tools etc in the back that it is being used commercially. There are plenty out there with no tax so surely the first thing to concentrate on is getting them in order.

hof1982

Up until recently I have been driving a car van (my own) and have had commercial tax. You need to sign a declaration which also needs to be signed by a guard stating that you are using the vehicle for work purposes only. In my 4 years driving no guard ever queried the tax but I was using the vehicle for work about 99% of the time, on a similar basis as the OP being a PAYE worker. TBH I don't think any guard would have an issue once the vehicle is taxed. There was also no issue getting the declaration signed by a guard.

As Bazz points out above, the annual DOE (price has also gone up recently) can be a pain but it does make sure that you stay on top of the maintenance.

corktina

We all have used vans for private purposes but the declaration is potentially a game-changer. A false declaration could be a serious matter if it all went pear-shape

L1011

D Trent wrote: »

So is the commercial tax disc a different colour to the private road tax disc or does it say on disc 'commercial' or wat?

"GOODS" written on the disc.