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Old February 19th 15, 09:36 AM posted to uk.railway,uk.transport.london
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Default Pacers to be replaced by old London Underground trains?

"NY" wrote:
"Recliner" wrote in message
...
Paul Corfield wrote:
On Wed, 18 Feb 2015 16:43:05 +0000 (UTC), Recliner
wrote:

BevanPrice wrote:
On 18/02/2015 08:57, Recliner wrote:
It is all too easy for some affluent traffic manager, sat in her/his
plush office, or chauffeur driven Rolls, to claim "they can carry more
passengers", neglecting to mention that more of you will have less
comfortable journeys.

I don't think any TfL managers have chauffeur-driven Royces, and I don't
suppose many have more modest company cars either. But they're well aware
that Amersham is in Herts, well outside Greater London, and so isn't a high
priority. There aren't any votes for the London mayor in Amersham and
Chesham.

Company cars in LT / TfL were scrapped many years ago. In fact just at
the time I reached a grade when I was entitled to have one! It was a
very sensible move so my nose wasn't out of joint as a result of the
policy change.


These days, perk company cars aren't much of a benefit, now that they don't
have the tax advantages they once had.


The problem with company cars was that you were often told what car you
would get - you had no choice in the matter. The company that my dad
worked for was apparently unusual in that you could have any car with a
list price up to that of a specified grade of Cortina.

Some companies only allowed you to use the car for business use, which
meant you still had to buy a car of your own to use for shopping,
holidays and other private use, so it was no perk at all: the sole
benefit of it was that you didn't put as much mileage on your own car.


At management level, there was usually a lot more freedom. I had company
cars for 17 years before becoming self-employed, and in every case I got
them from new, built to my choice of spec and colour. For example, for my
second company car I chose an Alfa Romeo Guilietta (the old, rear-drive
version), hardly a stereotypical company car at the time (and the only one
in the company). And later, when my director colleagues mostly opted for
Jaguar XJs, I went for a big-engined BMW 5-Series (ironically, I now own a
Jaguar XJ, bought privately after I retired, as I prefer the aluminium
bodied Jags to current BMWs).

The limit was on the leasing cost, not the price, and the benefit was
untaxed back then. In every case, I was free to use it for private as well
as business purposes, and I never had to share it with colleagues. I don't
recall there being any mileage limits, either. Nowadays, with the benefit
in kind tax rules, people are much less likely to choose an expensive car.

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Old February 19th 15, 10:09 AM posted to uk.railway,uk.transport.london
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Default Pacers to be replaced by old London Underground trains?

In message
-septemb
er.org, Recliner writes
In every case, I was free to use it for private as well as business
purposes, and I never had to share it with colleagues. I don't recall
there being any mileage limits, either.


One firm I worked for, the MD used to complain that as soon as an
employee had worked their way up the tree sufficiently to qualify for a
company car, the first thing they did was move house 50 miles away where
property was cheaper, and proceed to wear out the company car at a rate
of knots.
--
Roland Perry
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Old February 19th 15, 10:22 AM posted to uk.railway,uk.transport.london
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Default Pacers to be replaced by old London Underground trains?

Roland Perry wrote:
In message -septemb
er.org, Recliner writes
In every case, I was free to use it for private as well as business
purposes, and I never had to share it with colleagues. I don't recall
there being any mileage limits, either.


One firm I worked for, the MD used to complain that as soon as an
employee had worked their way up the tree sufficiently to qualify for a
company car, the first thing they did was move house 50 miles away where
property was cheaper, and proceed to wear out the company car at a rate of knots.


Company car leases probably have (high) mileage limits, which perk car
users would be unlikely to hit, but a sales person might.
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Old February 19th 15, 11:05 AM posted to uk.railway,uk.transport.london
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Default Pacers to be replaced by old London Underground trains?

In message
-septemb
er.org, Recliner writes
In every case, I was free to use it for private as well as business
purposes, and I never had to share it with colleagues. I don't recall
there being any mileage limits, either.


One firm I worked for, the MD used to complain that as soon as an
employee had worked their way up the tree sufficiently to qualify for a
company car, the first thing they did was move house 50 miles away where
property was cheaper, and proceed to wear out the company car at a rate of knots.


Company car leases probably have (high) mileage limits, which perk car
users would be unlikely to hit, but a sales person might.


That firm used to buy its company cars outright. Staff turnover was high
enough that they didn't have a problem with replacing cars - most went
with the ex-employee. Until they started making people redundant, which
is a cruel thing to do at 5pm on a Friday and you ask for the car back
(some people say that the employee is entitled to keep such a car until
the end of their notice period, but that wasn't the custom and practice
at the time if the employee was asked to leave immediately).
--
Roland Perry
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Old February 19th 15, 11:14 AM posted to uk.railway,uk.transport.london
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Posts: 33
Default Pacers to be replaced by old London Underground trains?

On Thu, 19 Feb 2015 09:36:20 +0000 (UTC)
Recliner wrote:
The limit was on the leasing cost, not the price, and the benefit was
untaxed back then. In every case, I was free to use it for private as well
as business purposes, and I never had to share it with colleagues. I don't
recall there being any mileage limits, either. Nowadays, with the benefit
in kind tax rules, people are much less likely to choose an expensive car.


Isn't a way around the benefit in kind just to have pool cars and people can
use them as and when. Of course if one person happens to hold on to a particular
pool car, well...

--
Spud



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Old February 19th 15, 11:50 AM posted to uk.railway,uk.transport.london
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Default Pacers to be replaced by old London Underground trains?

On Thu, 19 Feb 2015 11:45:57 +0000
Roland Perry wrote:
In message ,
writes
The limit was on the leasing cost, not the price, and the benefit was
untaxed back then. In every case, I was free to use it for private as well
as business purposes, and I never had to share it with colleagues. I don't
recall there being any mileage limits, either. Nowadays, with the benefit
in kind tax rules, people are much less likely to choose an expensive car.


Isn't a way around the benefit in kind just to have pool cars and
people can use them as and when. Of course if one person happens to
hold on to a particular pool car, well...


It's too obvious a loophole, so no. (Based on rules about how such a
'pool car' is defined).


Short of tailing someone I'm not sure how they'd prove it.

--
Spud

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Old February 19th 15, 06:12 PM posted to uk.railway,uk.transport.london
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Posts: 57
Default Pacers to be replaced by old London Underground trains?

On Thu, 19 Feb 2015 09:36:20 +0000 (UTC), Recliner
wrote:

"NY" wrote:
"Recliner" wrote in message
...
Paul Corfield wrote:
On Wed, 18 Feb 2015 16:43:05 +0000 (UTC), Recliner
wrote:

BevanPrice wrote:
On 18/02/2015 08:57, Recliner wrote:
It is all too easy for some affluent traffic manager, sat in her/his
plush office, or chauffeur driven Rolls, to claim "they can carry more
passengers", neglecting to mention that more of you will have less
comfortable journeys.

I don't think any TfL managers have chauffeur-driven Royces, and I don't
suppose many have more modest company cars either. But they're well aware
that Amersham is in Herts, well outside Greater London, and so isn't a high
priority. There aren't any votes for the London mayor in Amersham and
Chesham.

Company cars in LT / TfL were scrapped many years ago. In fact just at
the time I reached a grade when I was entitled to have one! It was a
very sensible move so my nose wasn't out of joint as a result of the
policy change.

These days, perk company cars aren't much of a benefit, now that they don't
have the tax advantages they once had.


The problem with company cars was that you were often told what car you
would get - you had no choice in the matter. The company that my dad
worked for was apparently unusual in that you could have any car with a
list price up to that of a specified grade of Cortina.

Some companies only allowed you to use the car for business use, which
meant you still had to buy a car of your own to use for shopping,
holidays and other private use, so it was no perk at all: the sole
benefit of it was that you didn't put as much mileage on your own car.


At management level, there was usually a lot more freedom. I had company
cars for 17 years before becoming self-employed, and in every case I got
them from new, built to my choice of spec and colour. For example, for my
second company car I chose an Alfa Romeo Guilietta (the old, rear-drive
version), hardly a stereotypical company car at the time (and the only one
in the company). And later, when my director colleagues mostly opted for
Jaguar XJs, I went for a big-engined BMW 5-Series (ironically, I now own a
Jaguar XJ, bought privately after I retired, as I prefer the aluminium
bodied Jags to current BMWs).

The limit was on the leasing cost, not the price, and the benefit was
untaxed back then. In every case, I was free to use it for private as well
as business purposes, and I never had to share it with colleagues. I don't
recall there being any mileage limits, either. Nowadays, with the benefit
in kind tax rules, people are much less likely to choose an expensive car.


When I was a computer field engineer, we all had company cars - it was
a requirement, not just a perk, because we needed to get to places
quickly and reliably.

Like yours, it was based on leasing cost - and the managers had the
most expensive and luxurious cars while we plebs who really needed
them had the lesser ones.

When I had one, it was tax-deductible, but most of us did so many
miles that was reduced (half AFAIR).

ISTR it was also lower on a car less than 1800cc.
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Old February 19th 15, 08:59 PM posted to uk.railway,uk.transport.london
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Default Pacers to be replaced by old London Underground trains?

In message , Christopher A.
Lee writes
When I was a computer field engineer, we all had company cars - it was
a requirement, not just a perk, because we needed to get to places
quickly and reliably.

Like yours, it was based on leasing cost - and the managers had the
most expensive and luxurious cars while we plebs who really needed them
had the lesser ones.

When I had one, it was tax-deductible,


Do you mean the opposite - it was a charge on your personal tax.

but most of us did so many miles that was reduced (half AFAIR).


Above some threshold of business miles (?5k/yr perhaps) it was decided
that you really did need it to do your job. 100 miles less, and you
obviously didn't.

ISTR it was also lower on a car less than 1800cc.


There have been several schemes, many of which placed a greater envy-tax
upon drivers of higher-cc models than lower ones.
--
Roland Perry


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