[Altocumulus]

To help people looking for a lease option.

I had taken a lease for my Ritz Zxi from my organization for 4 years. However after 1.5 years I decided to quit and relocate to Bangalore. Instead of closing the lease I transferred it to my personal name and kept paying the quarterly installments. Also the car was transferred to my name.

The interest was also reduced to 11% which i think is fine. There is a residual value was required to be paid of 15%, viz ~85k. I have however now closed the lease and the car is totally in name without hypothecation.

The car lease company was Orix. Magma also has the same option to transfer the lease in your personal name if you quit. No tax benefits though on the EMI payments.

Adding below a simple calculation how lease helps based on if I had continued the entire lease period for my Ritz Zxi.

Price of vehicle (Loan amount) : 553059 INR (excluding insurance)
Quarterly payments: INR 39900
Total of EMI payments: INR 638400 (4yrs or 16 quarters)
Residual Value @ 15%: INR 83000
Sub-Total A - Payment made towards the car: INR 721400

Total amount non taxable/ year: 159600(EMI) + 162400 (Maintenance, Fuel, Driver, etc) = INR 300400 / year since INR 1800 will taken taxable every month
Tax saving per year @ 30%: INR 90120
Sub-total B: Amount of Tax saved over 4 years: INR 360480

Total cost of car, A-B = 721400 - 360480 = INR 360920
Savings against car bought in cash: 553059 - 360920 = INR 192139

If you buy with normal bank loan you will need to pay not only the above tax of INR 360480 but also the interest rate additionally.

Also kindly note, residual value may vary with organizations, however I am sure it would still help save quite a lot.

I would also like to add that Lease is a very good option if you NEED to buy a car. Not a tax saving option since it is a depreciating asset. To save tax look elsewhere :-)

Hope this helps !

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by Altocumulus

To help people looking for a lease option.

I had taken a lease for my Ritz Zxi from my organization for 4 years. However after 1.5 years I decided to quit and relocate to Bangalore. Instead of closing the lease I transferred it to my personal name and kept paying the quarterly installments. Also the car was transferred to my name.

The interest was also reduced to 11% which i think is fine. There is a residual value was required to be paid of 15%, viz ~85k. I have however now closed the lease and the car is totally in name without hypothecation.

The car lease company was Orix. Magma also has the same option to transfer the lease in your personal name if you quit. No tax benefits though on the EMI payments.

Adding below a simple calculation how lease helps based on if I had continued the entire lease period for my Ritz Zxi.

Price of vehicle (Loan amount) : 553059 INR (excluding insurance)
Quarterly payments: INR 39900
Total of EMI payments: INR 638400 (4yrs or 16 quarters)
Residual Value @ 15%: INR 83000
Sub-Total A - Payment made towards the car: INR 721400

Total amount non taxable/ year: 159600(EMI) + 162400 (Maintenance, Fuel, Driver, etc) = INR 300400 / year since INR 1800 will taken taxable every month
Tax saving per year @ 30%: INR 90120
Sub-total B: Amount of Tax saved over 4 years: INR 360480

Total cost of car, A-B = 721400 - 360480 = INR 360920
Savings against car bought in cash: 553059 - 360920 = INR 192139

If you buy with normal bank loan you will need to pay not only the above tax of INR 360480 but also the interest rate additionally.

Also kindly note, residual value may vary with organizations, however I am sure it would still help save quite a lot.

I would also like to add that Lease is a very good option if you NEED to buy a car. Not a tax saving option since it is a depreciating asset. To save tax look elsewhere :-)

Hope this helps !

Thanks for your insights.


I also have a lease car from my company (partner is Leaseplan/Salaryplan) since last 3 years and my lease is due to end in a couple of months.

Now i am in some kind of Dilemma.

As i understand, after the end of leasing period, i have following options:

1. Return the car to Lease partner
2. Get the car transferred to my name by paying residual value and retain the car (it has only run 16000 kms due to my low running and travelling)
3. Sell the car directly to a third party. I will save on paying the residual value myself and the Sale price - Residual value i can cash in to buy another car (on lease ofcourse).

I have a doubt about point 1 - if i decide to "return" car to leasing partner - will the leasing partner pay me the market value of the car (minus the residual value of course) ?

And, is option 3 - selling the car directly to a third party (the car is currently in employer's name) - even possible?

[Altocumulus]

Thanks, below are my answers

Originally Posted by DCEite

Thanks for your insights.
I have a doubt about point 1 - if i decide to "return" car to leasing partner - will the leasing partner pay me the market value of the car (minus the residual value of course) ?

No they won't. Even if they do by chance they normally they sell to used car dealers, at throwaway prices as long as it is more than your residual value. Not a good option even if it is available.

OT: You can get really awesome cars from the leasing guys for cars which were given back after an Operating Lease. People donot generally give back on a finance lease.

2 examples which I arranged for a couple of friends in the last 6 months

2011 Honda Civic VMT : 28k kms for 3L
2012 Honda City VMT (the one with cruise control) : 4L

Originally Posted by DCEite

And, is option 3 - selling the car directly to a third party (the car is currently in employer's name) - even possible?

This depends on your organization not the lease company. If your company allows you can.

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by mukeshgoel

Corporate lease on cars used to save on tax is going to be abolished.

Income Tax sleuths can use GAAR to question pay packages that help in reducing tax - The Economic Times

Originally Posted by wanderluster

Read this in ET today - this will put leasing companies in a spot till this is clarified. We have put our plans on hold till this is clarified. It will really kill the leasing business if this comes in to effect.


GAAR effect: Income Tax sleuths can use it to question pay packages that help in reducing tax - ET

Car leases, which are widely used, are particularly at risk as the vehicle is effectively owned by the employee though it remains on the company's books. The employee gets to save on some tax as the loan is deducted from his salary.

The only silver lining is that this will apply from the fiscal year beginning April 1, 2012, and past claims will not be opened.

Originally Posted by DieselDon

GAAR may be put off by a year

The government will also specify a threshold in GAAR to determine the tax amount above which the rule could be invoked.

The ministry is planning a high threshold so that small investors, salaried taxpayers and individuals are exempted. The threshold may be around Rs 10-15 crore, lower than industry expectations.

Bumping an old topic related to GAAR.

As we know now, government is going ahead with GAAR implementation from coming April.

How would this impact the car lease business in India? Specifically - corporate car lease plans offered by employers in partnership with leasing companies, where the car is leased to employee by the leasing company but the vehicle itself is in the name of the employer - with tax benefit on EMI part (completely written off from salary slip) and exemption of tax on the Fuel/maintanance.

[vsrivatsa]

Originally Posted by DCEite

As we know now, government is going ahead with GAAR implementation from coming April.

I had the same question. But is it officially confirmed that this would be implemented from April 2017? Takes away one of the very few benefits that a salaried individual had if applied to Individuals

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by DCEite

Bumping an old topic related to GAAR.

As we know now, government is going ahead with GAAR implementation from coming April.

How would this impact the car lease business in India? Specifically - corporate car lease plans offered by employers in partnership with leasing companies, where the car is leased to employee by the leasing company but the vehicle itself is in the name of the employer - with tax benefit on EMI part (completely written off from salary slip) and exemption of tax on the Fuel/maintanance.

Originally Posted by vsrivatsa

I had the same question. But is it officially confirmed that this would be implemented from April 2017? Takes away one of the very few benefits that a salaried individual had if applied to Individuals

Well, they are yet to issue proper guidelines about the ambit of GAAR. But on the face of it, they are defining it as anything done solely with the motive of reducing tax can be covered under GAAR and then it lies on the assessing officer to interpret the transaction.

[vsrivatsa]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

Well, they are yet to issue proper guidelines about the ambit of GAAR. But on the face of it, they are defining it as anything done solely with the motive of reducing tax can be covered under GAAR and then it lies on the assessing officer to interpret the transaction.

I have been checking multiple sources for any information on the GAAR implementation and Car Lease - so far no one seems to have any idea. I spoke to LeasePlan company representative as well and they seem to say they have not received any intimation as yet. If Govt. plans to go ahead with the Implementation by 01-April then don't they need to issue more details soon?

[sunishsamuel]

Originally Posted by Altocumulus

To help people looking for a lease option.

I had taken a lease for my Ritz Zxi from my organization for 4 years. However after 1.5 years I decided to quit and relocate to Bangalore. Instead of closing the lease I transferred it to my personal name and kept paying the quarterly installments. Also the car was transferred to my name.

The interest was also reduced to 11% which i think is fine. There is a residual value was required to be paid of 15%, viz ~85k. I have however now closed the lease and the car is totally in name without hypothecation.

Is this possible during the lease term. I mean, assuming I am not quitting the organization but want to transfer the lease in my personal name and also get the reduced interest rate/lesser EMI ? I will not get tax benefits but reduced amount and car gets transferred to my name.

Also, i was working with my lease company to check an option for foreclosing the lease but the challenge is that to foreclose the lease, they are adding a VAT (more than 12%) + penalty + TCS + Service tax. Is that how it works ? If that's the case then lease closure is a pain because you end up paying more than the value of the car in used car market and all the benefits you had till then gets wiped out. I tried clarifying this with the company but no luck. The VAT and other components are very high, unfortunately.

[Altocumulus]

Originally Posted by sunishsamuel

Is this possible during the lease term. I mean, assuming I am not quitting the organization but want to transfer the lease in my personal name and also get the reduced interest rate/lesser EMI ? I will not get tax benefits but reduced amount and car gets transferred to my name.

Also, i was working with my lease company to check an option for foreclosing the lease but the challenge is that to foreclose the lease, they are adding a VAT (more than 12%) + penalty + TCS + Service tax. Is that how it works ? If that's the case then lease closure is a pain because you end up paying more than the value of the car in used car market and all the benefits you had till then gets wiped out. I tried clarifying this with the company but no luck. The VAT and other components are very high, unfortunately.

You can foreclose the lease by the taking a used car loan or personal loan. However, like you said the penalties are very high. It's better you wait for the GST implementation and then look at closing the lease.

Like I mentioned before, lease works very well if you go through the entire tenure of the lease, where it is even cheaper than buying the car in cash. If you foreclose or leave the organization in between it is not so beneficial. That is why I didn't opt for a lease with the new car I got. My new organization has only 3 year lease option, residual value is 25% and very high penalties. Even if I am transferred, I would require to close the lease. For a city the EMIs would have been very high and I would have been locked in Bangalore.

[vsrivatsa]

It has been more than a month since my last post on the topic of GAAR and Company Car Lease. I still have not heard back and not much info available on Internet also. Any updates on this? With April 01 less than 2 weeks away - I am guessing GAAR will be implemented mainly for companies and the Car Lease may not come under the ambit of GAAR.

[Ketan]

Hey Guys,

I have a very quick question here regarding the GST. I have got my lease completed by 6 June, 2017. I was informed a bit late by my organization it seems about the determination of the leased car where I have to pay the residual value + the VAT to get the lease termination done.
They asked me to complete the payment before the June 30 so that GST implications will not be there. However, it seems I had to wait for my salary + other fund management all the way till last day of June where I was about to make the bank transfer only to realize that I'm not able to add the finance co. as payee, informed the same to my organization and finance co on June 30t itself and this added further delay of a couple of days before I could make the payment on July 4.
I've just heard back from the finance co. that since the payment was not made in June, they'll be adding GST to the deal closure and the taxes I'm paying will have GST applied (which could be around 43%!!?) instead of the VAT which was 14.5%!
Now, the current VAT that I'm paying is around 33K which will be triple the current VAT if they add GST!! I'm just trying to figure out if there is anything I can do to avoid this huge loss in terms of GST!!
Any CA or anyone whom I can consult legally on this?
appreciate your inputs on this!!!
TIA

[ptaneja]

Originally Posted by Ketan

Any CA or anyone whom I can consult legally on this?
appreciate your inputs on this!!!
TIA

Sure shot mis-management and cheating on your leasing provider's behalf. Here in my company, even though today is 12th, the leasing company were collecting back dated cheques, who will either surrender/transfer the vehicle till 10th of July.

Instead of legal route, see if your company's HR and Leasing company can strike a deal. You should have provided a back dated cheque - and the company should not have presented it ( till you get the funds back in ), but all said and done, we working folks, do not have any time/efforts/money for legal battles.
Search for a "workaround" - maybe grease a few palms of leasing company.

[Ketan]

Originally Posted by ptaneja

Instead of legal route, see if your company's HR and Leasing company can strike a deal. You should have provided a back dated cheque - and the company should not have presented it ( till you get the funds back in ), but all said and done, we working folks, do not have any time/efforts/money for legal battles.
Search for a "workaround" - maybe grease a few palms of leasing company.

I'm trying all my best and trying to force my organization to talk to finance folks.
In the meantime, I see this news. Do you think this means I need not to pay the GST since this will be considered as a resale?
Does this mean resale will attract no tax at all? does that mean no VAT or GST?
This also brings me another question, when I sold my old car a few years back, I never charged any tax to the person whom I sold it, why does this finance companies charge tax on resale of the car??

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/b...3.cms?from=mdr

EDIT: this one as well,
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/bus...g-2320919.html

[ptaneja]

Originally Posted by Ketan

Do you think this means I need not to pay the GST since this will be considered as a resale?
Does this mean resale will attract no tax at all? does that mean no VAT or GST?

I think tax revision(for resale/GST) is for vehicle which is in "your" name - not on company name via financial institution/leasing company. But government orders, if and buts ...my leasing company has asked us to hold on for couple of months till clarity comes into place. For now, all are waiting for a meeting with govt GST panel on 8th Aug. Lets wait.

[arunkumars]

Hi Guys,

I have a question with respect to lease plan.
My organization does not have tie up with any of the car leasing companies.
Can we enter into a private lease agreement with these leasing companies and claim tax rebate later when filing the income tax?

Thanks,
Arun