This is what I think is better:

You lease a car, so you can sell at a profit after the lease.. then use the profit to buy the car of your dreams.

Pick a car that you know will hold the value well (I suggest 4 years). What you would do is to maximize your monthly payments to minimize the final payoff figure (because the monthly payments can be written off).. also pile on extended warranty/service things you know would make the car attractive on the second hand market. I picked 4 years because extended warranties are usually 3 or 6 years with a small incremental ($200 @ Mercedes) in between. When you pick the 6 years when you are selling the car, you can still say you have 2 years warranty and service on it and it is justifiable to the accountant vs say a 3 years lease and a 3 years warranty extension. You should also consider CPO cars too.

Vinyl wrap it with your company logo on it, it protects the paint, profit advertisement etc more write off potential.

At the end of the lease, you pay off your car, then sell it on the market.. you use the difference to buy something you want on your own account.

In the end, to achieve anything takes patience and hard work.

You do know whether the write off is granted or not is up to CRA AT THEIR DISCRETION. You have to prove to them that the write off is business related. Not, the other way round. They can be a hard ass and deny you right off the bat. So think about this and then think whether these small little trips you want to make are worth it.. when assuming you will be working 12+ hours in your small business alone, then have to get your accountants / PAs to dig up your day books / phone logs to prove something that can happen up to 5 years ago.

seems to be more horror stories in this thread than in real life.

as someone wise once said to me "if you're accountant cant write your truck off for you, hire a better accountant"

ive got 3 trucks and had an audit in my 3rd year. they didnt think twice about the trucks, they were only looking for if i did any cash work or missed payroll remittance. they tried to be scary, the accountant took care of it and it was a smooth process. i didnt even meet the auditor.


dont lie or hide things, you'll probably end up causing a hassle, just conduct your business properly and if CRA asks anything, tell them how it is.

LOL, our engineer is the sameway. Keeps his nice rides at home, commutes to work in an old Jetta.

Hey Coffee,

I drive an E90 3-series and I do import/export business, have been using the car 50/50 pleasure/work. You would have to record all mileage used for business, keep receipts, etc. as proof when it comes to reporting tax and writing expenses off. It's true that there are benefits but you would have to diligently keep track of everything. Good luck!

Beer