I'm looking at getting a WK-WL statesman. I work for a government department and can Salary Sacrifice the vehicle if I choose to. The other option I am considering is buying it with cash outright. Has anyone on this forum ever Salary Sacrificed a car? Do the tax saving even out the interest payments?
I work with a few guys that do it. I thought that you had to buy a new car. Your best bet is go and see a financial advisor which I think you have to, and see what he works out for you. Shop around though there are a few schemes out there.
Be careful man, I have salary sacrificed before however I didn't upgrade, had a mate who did to try and get in the lower tax bracket but he didn't do the sums probably stuffed up by $500 and is now in the poo big time. Also you need to work out if you want the car after the lease period, this can cost a big end of lease figure. My advice is take your time and be careful workout a 4 year plan. P.S you can't mod lease cars
my dad salary sacrificed a landcruiser over 3 years. Although his money in hand every pay was dropped by $600, overall taxable income was reduced hugely and made $7000 after fbt when he sold it. That was from when it was brand new, as toyota offered $12000 or so off the price when he bought it. Not sure if its worth it when the car isnt new, and the dealer isnt giving u a huge discount
thanks guys, I will look into it further. I'm lookin' for a 2003-2006 statesman (WK-WL). If the tax savings cover the interest payments I might go for it. Also I need to get a car with low KMs if I do sacrifice, or in 3-4 years time it wont be worth much at all. Unfortunately I can only choose between 2 salary sacrifice companies (I work for the Gov health dept) so there is not much comparison as both are about the same. The other thing I gotta consider is that travelling. Cause I live pretty much right next to a train station, I usually get public transport to work. I sometimes only travel 15,000 - 17,000 KMs per year only. To make Salary sacrificing worth it, you gotta drive at least 25,000 KMs a year. This means I'll need to drive to work every second or so day, once again bringing the value of the car down (hence why I would need one with low KM) and spending more cash on Petrol/LPG. I wouldn't be moding the car anyways... except maybe with LPG
I currently have a car on lease through the department. I will never buy a car any other way. When all the figures are done, I'm out of pocket only $350 out of each pay. When I need to get petrol, I get petrol and chuck it on the fuel card. When it needs a service, I drop it off for it and the mechanics can do whatever they like to it because I'm not forking out for it on the spot, therefore all services get done on time. When I need tyres, it gets done, same deal. When my insurance and rego renewals come, I send them to the lease company and they're paid for. Just be careful guessing your kilometres. Last FBT year I did more k's into the next FBT bracket than what I guessed, so I ended up having about $1600 refunded to my car fund because I'd paid too much FBT for the year. Try to guess less k's than what you might do. That way if you do more k's it's a bonus, but if you do less and fall below your bracket you'll get caught out. I went for a three year lease and I reckon it was as good term to go for. I didn't want to be stuck with the same car to too long. September next year I throw mine out and get a new one.
Do you know what the best way is of calculating the savings? How do you pay for servicing/repairs? do you get a 'special card'?
