Buying a laptop through company, Accountants want to stage repayments

booooonzo

Hi ,

Probably not the clearest title but anyway...

I am with an umbrella company (im a director of a ltd company) and i am looking to purchase a laptop for business use.
I was under the impression that i could purchase this using company money (pre-tax) and purchase it ex-vat.

My umbrella company says that i should purchase the laptop in the companies name using my own money (ie my net wage money) and then claim the vat back (fine) and then they will pay back the money owed to me (not sure what its called) over 6 months.

Does this seem right?

Im not even sure ill be with this umbrella company due to other reasons

cheers

namenotavailablE

It seems a somewhat circuitous procedure and for no particular benefit to you- basically the accountants want you to give a 6 month (interest free?) loan to the company.

If the laptop is for business use as you indicate, why the requirement that you buy it using your income (and wait for a delayed refund) rather than the company buy it?

Additionally, if you buy the laptop in your name - and receive an invoice in the name of 'booooonzo'- are you entitled to reclaim the VAT as an individual? To do so, you personally would have to be a VAT registered person yourself. I'd have thought that the company could not recover the VAT using an invoice not made out in the company's name.

I'd suggest that you seek a clear explanation as to why they are suggesting this particular mode to effect the purchase and clarification of the 'financial validity' of the proposal.

censuspro

Are you an IT contractor working for an Umbrella Company?