Like I said in my other TOPIC I will be moving to Canada from Europe this year and looking to get an E70 there.

I would like to know a little something about how cars are taxed in Canada? It seems most people own their cars themselves rather than drive company cars. That is quite different from what I am used to. What is the reason for this? How are company cars taxed?

Here in The Netherlands most (working) people drive cars that are owned or leased by their business or employer and if they elect to use it for private use as well the availability of that car + its fuel/maintenance all paid for by their employer is seen as income and as such they need to pay extra taxes for that benefit, being their applicable income tax rate (52% top bracket for people who can afford an X5) on 25% of the MSRP of the car they drive.

Here, for a car like an X5 with a sticker price of €85k that would mean 85.000 x 25% x 52% = €11.050 in extra income tax yearly ($17.500) just for the car.

The only way to avoid this if you have a company car at your disposal is to keep a full log book of every ride you take in the car proving (and they do check gas receipts, maintenance receipts, tickets) you haven't driven more than 500km per year for private use.

All this is kind of ridiculous and just another reason why having a nice car in Europe is so damn expensive.... Yet the height of all the other costs like high purchase prices and expensive fuel make it hardly worthwile to be driving your own car because you will end up spending the same. Bottom line is the government makes money twice for free....

I am hoping this would be better in Canada. I would rather put the X5 in the name of my business than have to buy it personally. Does having a company car in Canada have the same ridiculous income tax implications???

Thanks for your help Canooks, much appreciated!