Not usually, but I can make it across the border and back, with a few hours to shop, in one day.
You can make it from Canada to Mexico by car and back with a few hours to shop in one day?
My confusion was that the original statement I responded to seemed to suggest that anyone in your company was as likely to drive to Mexico as they were to drive to the United States on any given day. It made it sound like your company was located somewhere between the two.
Ther term 'company car", when not referring to either a vehicle with company name/advertisement, or a truck, seems to have take on two meanings in this thread;
- A car owned by the comapny that they let the employee drive.
- A car owned by the employee for which they receive a stipend.
I suspect the former is what the OP was asking about, and I also supect that is quite rare nowadays.
I happen to fall into the second category; At my employer I have always received a stipend for the cost of my owning and maintaining a car. Until last year I was able to use my company-owned/issued credit card (i.e. bills go directly to them) for gas as well as any valid employment-related expenses (equipment, entertaining clients, etc) However last year they told us we coiuldn’t use the CC for gas anymore and they gave us an additional stipend that was supposed to cover the cost of gas. Whether we win or lose on the deal depends on the fluctuating price of gas and how much driving we do.
Most people I know that have company cars now have them for work purposes only. IE they get to park the car at their house but they are only for going to and from work and/or job sites. A few of them are very strict about mileage use and there is not much leeway for personal use. The majority however mileage isn’t tracked but the understanding is it is for business only but they aren’t going to harass you if you use it for personal use as well. IE you could probably take it on a road trip as the company is very lax about your use but if you asked if you could the answer would be a firm no for I assume liability reasons. Vehicles in this fashion are considered business only miles and the company pays all taxes and services associated simply ignoring the fact they may have been used for personal trips.
The other form of company car which I don’t think is anywhere near as common as in the past is the company simply provides a car as a perk. In which case it is personal use and only instances of actual business use are recorded. I had a friend who managed a Cheesecake Factory. Part of the compensation for all their managers was they where given a BMW. As a restaurant manager rarely needs to drive anywhere save their own restaurant it was 100% for personal use except the rare instance the managers might be required to show up at a national meeting or such then the miles could be written off as a business expense.
I drove a company car for 18 years and considered it a perk because during that time I never had a need to purchase a personal vehicle. I was taxed for personal mileage but that averaged about $30 to $40 a month. Think of the money I saved over those years by not having to buy a car or deal with the incidentals of gas, insurance, maintenance, etc.
For managerial level employees, my company optionally provides “lease cars” but not everyone regards it as a perk. Cost per month depends on the vehicle that you select, and it includes all maintenance and auto insurance. (You pay for your own gasoline). In order to promote certain vehicles, the company sometimes highly discounts the lease price. All in all, they’re considered a really good deal if you choose the right vehicle. The offset, though, is that if you have such a vehicle you only get reimbursed at about 20% of the federal mileage rate. (Sigh; we used to be able to buy the low-mileage, year-old cars at a substantial discount. Now only the people that lease them can choose to purchase their own vehicle off-lease.)
I remember reading an article about the tax regimen in the UK before Margaret Thatcher. The top tax rate was about 84% but at that time did not include perks. The article said an engineer earning about 40,000 pounds was better off getting a comapny car and full time driver than trying to pay him more cash. Ditto for perks like club memberships, etc.
Somewhere around the 80’s the governments around the first world clued in that the higher paid employees were taking a large chunk of pay in untaxed perks, and so began taxing perks at fair market value. This is why we associate “company car” with the Mad Men era - nowadays, if the company gives you a car (usually leased) that would cost $10,000 a year, you’ll probably end up paying the taxman a significant portion of that amount in cash for your taxes. (In Canada, probably about 1/3 or more depending on salary level). It makes more sense to give the employee the cash and let them make the arrangements - also reduces the company’s liability if their name is not on the car?
In Canada… A company car/truck used to do actual travel for company business is not included in this “benefit”; but if you typically take the car home and also use it for personal use, then the proportion of personal use is taxable. Hence the logs - how many miles did you drive, and what for? If it was, say, 30% personal miles, then 30% of car cost (or fair market value) is taxable income. As a side note, travelling to and from your regular place of employment (commuting) is something everyone has to do, and therefore not considered a “non-taxable” use of the car.
I assume the rules in the USA are similar. I assume someone with more direct experience will clarify the rules here…
What I’m going to mention doesn’t pertain to company cars assigned to a person, but rather to another special type of company car. And there’s a big difference between the US and Canada.
Our salaried plant employees are entitled/encouraged to take production cars home at night. This is for the convenience of the company, because these little shakedowns can help discover production issues, like squeaks and rattles. The Canadian employees were very hesitant to take these cars, because, yes, they were taxed on their use! Apparently in Ontario, there’s no distinction made “for the company’s benefit.” This has never been an issue at our US or Mexico facilities.