Company Car vs Personal Car Calculator
Should you buy your next company car through the business, or buy it yourself and claim mileage?
The answer is rarely obvious, because money spent by the company is not the same as money in your own pocket.
This calculator compares both routes for an Irish owner-managed company on a like-for-like basis, factoring in benefit-in-kind, capital allowances, Civil Service mileage rates and the real cost of extracting profit to fund a personal purchase.
Enter your figures below to see the total cost of each option.
The calculator is intended as a guide only. If you would like advice based on your own circumstances, speak to us.
Your details
Cost breakdown
| Item | Through company | Personal + mileage |
|---|
How the figures are made up
What "pre-tax company profit required" means. Company money is not the same as money in your pocket. To spend personal cash you must first draw a salary and pay income tax, USC and PRSI on it, so a purchase that costs the company one amount can cost far more in the earnings needed to fund it personally. Both routes are shown on this common basis so they can be compared fairly. Amounts funded from company profits are grossed up at the corporation tax rate; amounts funded personally are grossed up at the director's marginal rate.
Director type. For a proprietary director (Class S) no employer PRSI arises. For a non-proprietary director or employee (Class A), employer PRSI applies both to the BIK cash equivalent and to any salary drawn to fund the purchase, and is included in the figures above.
When mileage exceeds the cost of the car. If tax-free mileage more than covers the car, the personal route shows a surplus. That surplus is treated as tax-free income the director would otherwise have drawn as taxable salary, so it is grossed up at the marginal rate. This holds where the director draws a salary the surplus can displace. If little or no other salary is drawn, the surplus is worth closer to its face value and the personal route is less advantageous than the headline suggests.
Assumptions. Trading company; salary is the extraction route; the car is bought and later sold at the resale value shown; company finance interest is deductible while personal finance interest is not; genuine business mileage claimed at Civil Service rates; figures are totals over the period and ignore the time value of money. Tax rates, BIK bands, the EV relief taper and the temporary universal OMV reduction change with each Budget and Finance Act, so verify against current Revenue guidance for the relevant tax year.
Estimate only, not tax advice. Take professional advice before acting.