Car allowance

Specialun

Hi

Ive been asked to interview for a sales rep job.now im more use to internal roles

The company is telling me they are paying 4.5k per year car allowance and a per mile ratio (to be discussed i was told)

I was planning on changing my car.

Does 4.5 k car allowance sound small? Its taxed at the going rate i take it

Is there normally movement on car allowance? Whats going rate for per km role?

gandalf

That equates to €375 per month which is on the very very low side, especially as you will lose approx 50% of that on tax. I sincerely doubt you will get that 4.5k in one pay check.

I would expect you to be able to claim 0.25 - 0.30 per km with a car allowance but again I would ask them for the exact figure per km.

The_Conductor

The maximum rate per km- is the civil service rate (as it becomes BIK at anything over the civil service rate- and the tax becomes quite horrendous on it). The current scale for civil service mileage- is based on the number of kms per annum you drive- and the engine size of the vehicle.

This is:

Official Motor Travel in a calendar year Engine Capacity: Up to 1,200 cc Engine Capacity: 1,201 cc to 1,500 cc Engine Capacity: 1,501 cc and over
Up to 6,437km 39.12 cent 46.25 cent 59.07 cent
6,438km and over 21.22 cent 23.62 cent 28.46 cent

Also- the 4.5k 'allowance' is fully taxable- you'll loose half it in tax.............

Specialun

Its a private sector role

There trying to mask the 4.5 allowance as not being poor by saying the role is 60-40 external/internal...realistically most field roles have internal element to them...i does look as if its a poor allowance..whether thats negotiable idoubt it...

I would have thought most reasonable allowances be 8k plus per annum

The_Conductor

Specialun wrote: »

Its a private sector role

There trying to mask the 4.5 allowance as not being poor by saying the role is 60-40 external/internal...realistically most field roles have internal element to them...i does look as if its a poor allowance..whether thats negotiable idoubt it...

I would have thought most reasonable allowances be 8k plus per annum

The civil service mileage rates apply for the private sector.
Aka- any payments over the civil service rates- are fully taxable.
Ibec and other bodies have been petitioning the Revenue Commissioners for years to allow the private sector pay higher rates than the public sector- but Revenue has refused to countenance it.


As for the allowance- it really depends on what sector you're in, and the nationality of the company you're working for. The different sectors pay different allowance- the pharmaceutical sector tends to be the most generous. The allowance isn't particularly popular though- because its fully taxable. Any of the larger companies give their salesteams vehicles- in recognition of this- and the vast mileage that tends to be put up on cars (50k/60k kilometers per annum is nothing out of the ordinary). They get the cars as fleet cars- and turn them every 18 months or so- before timing belts etc need to be changed. Some companies aim to change at much lower levels (e.g. 25-30k) but they are the exception rather than the norm.
The table above- is accurate. Driving a larger engined car- unlocks a higher mileage rate- and if you're driving any distance at all- you do need something with a reasonable engine size.

Specialun

To put it into perspective

The base is 32k and its an irish owned IT reseller...

Like after tax 4.5 is not much..lets say 2.2 and thats before road tax...thats before annual car maintence and excluding the fact you devalue the car which you own...

I know they reckon its 50-50 but even if its realistically 70-30 its a poor allowance

Tuesday_Girl

It's very very low alright. My company offers a car allowance of EUR950/month, regardless of your role, and friends in other IT companies get similar amounts.

Specialun

Like the job is just province based and not all over country so i dont know does that change much

Naturally enough other benefits include:

Company phone/ipad and mac
Pay per mile

Is the car allwance usually open to negotiation?

The reason im asking is because i was going to upgrade my car as my own is not a rep role..i dont expect them to be paying for this obviously but i do want to make it worth my while....4.5 looks well below average

Im open to advice/opinions

The_Conductor

Without an indication of how much of the job is office based, how much is on the road, what mileage is in question etc etc etc- its really impossible to tell.

Yes- it does look incredibly low- and it is something that I would be inclined to try to renegotiate- however, if the mileage isn't too high- I might just bite the bullet.......

Specialun

50-50 office base they claim..60-40 the recruitment claim..

Its munster based and im in cork city..into big companies so milage wont be a guinness world record

Specialun

50-50 office base they claim..60-40 the recruitment claim..

Its munster based and im in cork city..into big companies so milage wont be a guinness world record

gandalf

TBH if its 50/50 they should be offering more. I would expect it to be a minimum of twice what they are offering.

Company phone/ipad and mac are not benefits, they are tools for the job.

Are they offering Health insurance or a pension?

Specialun

gandalf wrote: »

TBH if its 50/50 they should be offering more. I would expect it to be a minimum of twice what they are offering.

Company phone/ipad and mac are not benefits, they are tools for the job.

Are they offering Health insurance or a pension?

I dont know tbh...

gandalf

Specialun wrote: »

I dont know tbh...

TBH I would do the interview for practice but based on what you have posted already it sounds like they are paying on the low side for a role where you are 50% on the road.

The car allowance by itself would concern me, it is way too low. Bear in mind you will have to let your insurance company know that you are using the car for work and you may pay an additional charge for that. So additional cost.

Also you say you have mainly worked internal sales in the past, are you comfortable doing field sales work?

Specialun

gandalf wrote: »

TBH I would do the interview for practice but based on what you have posted already it sounds like they are paying on the low side for a role where you are 50% on the road.

The car allowance by itself would concern me, it is way too low. Bear in mind you will have to let your insurance company know that you are using the car for work and you may pay an additional charge for that. So additional cost.

Also you say you have mainly worked internal sales in the past, are you comfortable doing field sales work?

Im new to it but i think im suitedto it and personally like the challenge

Specialun

Anymore opinions guys/girls

cerastes

The_Conductor wrote: »

The maximum rate per km- is the civil service rate (as it becomes BIK at anything over the civil service rate- and the tax becomes quite horrendous on it). The current scale for civil service mileage- is based on the number of kms per annum you drive- and the engine size of the vehicle.

This is:

Official Motor Travel in a calendar year Engine Capacity: Up to 1,200 cc Engine Capacity: 1,201 cc to 1,500 cc Engine Capacity: 1,501 cc and over
Up to 6,437km 39.12 cent 46.25 cent 59.07 cent
6,438km and over 21.22 cent 23.62 cent 28.46 cent

Also- the 4.5k 'allowance' is fully taxable- you'll loose half it in tax.............

The per km allowance is taxed above the civil service rate as bik? Is it taxed normally below it too?

The_Conductor

As far as I remember- its not taxed at all- providing you keep to the civil service rate (I stand to be corrected on this- but I believe its 0 rated).

gandalf

Per km allowance like all vouched expenses are not taxed once you are at or below the Civil Service allowance levels.