I’m self employed, ltd company, vat registered etc. I’ve priced up vehicle hire at £375.00 per week, everything included - breakdown, 6 week checks, services, tyres etc, basically I’ve to cover insurance and fuel.
Does this sound a good deal?
Secondly, fuel cards? Where do I start and what prices should I be aiming for? I’m expecting roughly 1000ltrs per week.
I have a yard to park it, (previous boss is a legend and helping with me parking in his yard) I’m applying for the O-licence and signed up for a site covering back loads nation wide.
I’m after any tips as I’m of the opinion experience counts. People trying to talk me out of it but if no one tries, no one wins, I’d rather try and fail than never try at all.
when i considered taking over my last employers main customers when he was retiring i was advised to apply too at least 5 fuel card companies and hope that at least 3 will give you cards, as for the price i would imagine they will give a little but not much, it be there terms on payment which does vary but i think fortnightly is nearly standard.
£375 a week sounds a good deal for a tractor unit with R&M, tyres and tax, I’d suggest being an employee of your own limited company rather than self-employed, pay yourself no more than £820 a month and you’ll avoid PAYE and NI although you’ll still get a NI credit, pay yourself any amount over and above that as a loan repayment for the money you put into the business as there’s no tax liability on that, claim working tax credits as you earn so little, get a good accountant but keep books yourself, claim EVERYTHING possible against earnings (if I pay 60p to park my car when I’m down town posting my weekly invoice I’ll claim that), UK Fuels and Fuelcard Services will give fuel cards to a new start.
If you want to do it, then do it. It might work out, it might not, but you won’t know unless you try. I’ve had my truck on the road coming up to three years now and I do ok at it, although I certainly don’t make a fortune by any means.
dutchvs:
Ha ha I have contracts set up with quite a few decent companies, its the other details im asking about.
i wasnt having a go, i wish you all the luck in the world its just theres a lot of people put the cart before the horse when it comes to getting started
going on your figures above with the truck at 375 a week and 1k fuel a week, insurance at anything upto 100 quid a week and 500 wage i would say your going to be needing to earn at least £2500 a week to make it worthwhile, if your confident the work you have lined up can cover this then good luck and i hope it works out for you
Cheers fellas, all taken on board, really appreciated.
I am self employed at min, 153 a week wage with rest paid as directors loan, is going well but think ill see how it goes with unit etc. Just getting my head round how to price jobs properly.
2500 is exactly what I said while doing my budget! Lol
Quite interesting if someone decides to be a contractor with his own or hire tractor unit. I wonder if you have an accountant or you are going to be one. Make sure you pay off your director loan with dividends because as we know if you take a director loan - you have to give back money to your ltd then. It sounds strange that you have to give back what you actually earn hardly. Am I right?
The wage is as I set it with my accountant, the business will get the rest as a directors loan, basically its available if its needed. You can take two dividends per year but the directors loan can be paid weekly, however there is corporate tax on that. I’m far from an accountant, I just listen to my accountant and follow what information i am given.
As for the hiring of the unit, it seems the safest option of keeping overheads low as breakdown, tyres, 6 weekly checks, servicing and like for like vehicle if mine is off the road seems like a no brainer as if i owned my unit, all the above would be an extra cost. The mpg of the units are good and every 18-24 months i get a new one. In my eyes its the easiest of routes unit -hopefully, business grows and i can lok at other options.
As it stands, I’m a one man band, plenty of driving experience and experience in running my own companies, but never haulage, so I’m open to listening to experienced people and understand i won’t get everything right first time but the learning curve will show me what i need in the long run - or i just go back to been an employee if it goes ■■■■ up!
If you earn no more than £153 a week as director of your ltd (in paye system), you pay no tax on your income and no national insurance contributions. As I am aware you have to pay tax on dividends. You can avoid paying tax apart from vat - at Flat Rate Scheme you can reclaim vat on purchases above £2000. According to gov.uk website (plenty of information there) as director you are responsible for everything happening at your ltd. You better control your accountant
you can take as many as you want , on £153 a week you should roughly be able to take 30k in dividends without falling into the higher tax bracket (as long as the profit is there to justify the amount you take)
You are right, had a read of the info properly last night.
If the directors loan is over ten grand per year, you pay corporation tax at 25%, but if you can pay the loan back with in nine months and one day of the end of tax year, you can claim back the corporation tax. My accountant has it covered from my weekly deductions so I put it in a high interest account while waiting for the dreaded tax bill!! As for the VAT, there is a scheme where you can set up paying 9% vat the first year, 10 the second year etc, so what you save on the vat (putting the regular 20% aside) the saving realistically usually covers the majority if not all of the end if year tax bill… If that makes sense!! Lol
Cheers for the advice, ill take a look at the link, really appreciated.
On a different note, does anyone have opinions on the Volvo NL’s? (uk spec of units with the front end that our lass described as an American truck!!)
375 for the hire sounds right but youd better read TCs well. I was about to hire as well but its a risk of unpredicted costs as well
they will charge you for everything you do to the lorry.
i decided to put my own money buy decent second hand truck. if nothing goes wrong badly in 18mnths i have truck paid off from the money i put at the side every week(30% of fuel cost)
On a different note, does anyone have opinions on the Volvo NL’s?
There is no UK spec on the NL- I don’t even know if it is type approved for UK, if not it will have to be SVA The only ones I know of are running under STGO - so the first question is, if your serious about setting up in haulage why would you even look at a truck that will severely limit your operations?
If you don’t know why or how an NL will curtail your options you are no where ready to start a transport business
On a different note, does anyone have opinions on the Volvo NL’s?
There is no UK spec on the NL- I don’t even know if it is type approved for UK, if not it will have to be SVA The only ones I know of are running under STGO - so the first question is, if your serious about setting up in haulage why would you even look at a truck that will severely limit your operations?
If you don’t know why or how an NL will curtail your options you are no where ready to start a transport business
I have to say that this is true. Road transport is a business, and it’s hard enough to make it work at the best of times, it’s certainly going to be impossible if you buy a truck on the basis of its ■■■ appeal.
dutchvs:
If the directors loan is over ten grand per year, you pay corporation tax at 25%, but if you can pay the loan back with in nine months and one day of the end of tax year, you can claim back the corporation tax.
A director’s loan is something different entirely. If you start a limited company using your own money, then you have lent money to a limited company. When that limited company pays you back, then there is no tax liability on it. It’s no different to lending money to McDonalds or Microsoft, it makes no difference that you own the limited company you lent money to, the limited company is an entirely different entity and there is no tax payable when it pays you back.
I’ve had my truck on the road for nearly three years now and apart from the VAT I haven’t paid a penny in tax, and have been paid around £7,000 by HMRC in tax credits. This is 100% legal, and I figure I’ve paid enough tax over the years to get a small percentage of it back.
I’ve made good decisions and bad decisions in the time I’ve been running my truck, one of the best decisions I ever made was to choose an expensive accountant over a cheap one.
