Autumn 2006 Newsletter Contents Into The Unknown Season Of Goodwill Farewell Andre Toon Done Doon Day Of Reckoning Artistic Licence Gizmos Again A Free Lunch Sweet As Nectar Security Concerns Going For A Spin The Cap Does Not Fit While It's Hot? Code Cracking Bad Connection Broken Trusts You Can't Take It With You Dividend Returns IR35 RIP? Spam Spam Spam Breaking Up Duty Calls Time Shift Moving Vans

Moving Vans Sometimes rule changes are announced so far in advance that we have all forgotten about them by the time they come in. We have known for a long time that the taxation of company vans will change on 6 April 2007, so we should be prepared for it. From 6 April 2005, the tax charge on private use of a van was removed if the only private use was "ordinary commuting" between home and the place of work. If private use is more than that, the charge of £500 - which has been around since 1993 - still applies. There is currently no tax charge for free fuel provided in a company van (although there would be a scale rate charge for VAT if the business provided fuel and the employee was allowed to use it for private miles without charge). From 6 April 2007, the £500 chargeable value rises to £3,000, and a £500 scale charge is introduced for private use of fuel. That still compares favourably with the equivalent figures for company cars, but perhaps a company car is a nicer benefit than a van. Certainly anyone who is used to paying tax on the smaller figures will find the larger ones a shock - if anyone still has private use above the "ordinary commuting" level, it will be worth reviewing their arrangements to see if they can make the van not taxable at all from next April.