LOOKING to release some equity, or perhaps just looking at changing the way you operate your business? You may need to sell a company car.
You might be worried that the process for selling a company car is more complicated than selling any other vehicle, so here’s what you need to know.
You will need to work out how you are going to sell it. Odds are, if you are selling a company car, you are not looking for a part-exchange or dealership credit. Rather, you want the most amount of cash for the vehicle.
The easiest way to do this is by selling your car online with a service like Autovolo.co.uk, as this gives you the widest possible market, and will ensure you get the fairest price for the car, without any haggling or contacting dealerships.
This might seem obvious, but it is important to stress that you can only sell a company car if it is actually owned by the company. If the car is part of a fleet deal or on some kind of lease service, it does not actually belong to you so you cannot sell it.
If this is the case, and you are still looking to get rid of the vehicle, you can talk to your fleet hire people and organise its return.
You will need the vehicle registration document called the V5C. At this point, you will also want to get together the car’s service history as a complete service history is an important part of getting the best possible price for your car.
This is the same paperwork that would be involved in selling any other car. The only difference here is that the ownership documents will probably be in the company’s name.
It’s always worth cleaning a car before taking pictures and listing it online. A clean car looks like a car that has been well cared for, and looks like it has been kept by a considerate owner. The psychological effect of this is that buyers are more likely to think that the car is in good shape, so will be happy to spend a little bit more.
Ultimately, you want the car to look its absolute best, because that way you can be confident in getting the best possible deal.
Finally, it is important to talk about the tax implications of selling a company car. Because you are receiving money for selling company goods, this does technically fall under taxable income. This will either be corporation tax or capital gains tax depending on whether you are a limited company, or a sole trader.
However, this would only apply if you made a profit in selling the car. As vehicles depreciate so rapidly, it is incredibly unlikely that you will profit from selling a company car, so in all likelihood, there will be no tax to pay.
