BDO & Connector : Tax knowledge means money

Many of the changes that Fleet Managers have started to implement have an unexpected side effect: the tax load inside the TCO. Moving employees from a “personal” car to a mobility budget raises obvious questions on direct and indirect taxation for company and employee. On a country level, income from emission related taxation will most probably decrease;  fuel efficient and greener engines have set the trend. One can only expect new types of taxation to come – here as well, the Fleet Manager will need to anticipate and integrate these taxes as soon as possible into the TCU in order to make the right recommendations for her/his fleet.

“More generically, Fleet Managers are no tax experts,” says Yves Helven, director at Connector. “The function and the knowledge are typically not available in house and experts need to be called upon.” But in general, the input of tax experts, although generating value and a high return on investment, is not often solicited. Helven continues “Fleet Managers focus on supply chain, traditional vehicle TCO and model selection to realise their savings objectives. We need to create awareness of the potential of tax consulting : on a company level, it increases compliance and saves money. We just need the Fleet Managers to start feeling comfortable asking for help.”

This is why Connector has joined forces with BDO : integrating a major global player into the Connector network puts tax knowledge within hand’s reach of the Fleet Manager. Vice versa, with Connector, the Fleet Manager has a partner with whom projects can be discussed from multiple angles : tax, project management, tech and insurance. Helven concludes “BDO was our first choice; they are global, customer-centric, leaders in knowledge and, even more important, they understand what issues the Fleet Manager is dealing with on daily basis.”

For BDO, the partnership with Connector comes naturally. “Connector ticks a number of boxes”, says Erwin Boumans, Tax Partner at BDO Belgium. “They have a global reach, but use local expertise, which is also the strength of BDO. In addition, the alliance responds to our Company’s desire to stay close to the action – no one knows better what’s happening on the fleet market than the Fleet Manager. Via Connector we have direct access to the needs and concerns of fleet owners.”

BDO is no stranger to the automotive industry. For many years, the Company has been contributing to global automotive tax guides. Via content and training, BDO makes knowledge available to the fleet audience. Boumans adds: “Today, we are in particular concerned about the lack of understanding on the impact of the IFRS rules. We need to put this topic on the agenda, preferably at the top. Not knowing what the impact will be of the changes in the company car accounting can lead to a dysfunctional fleet strategy, impacting the TCO of the fleet and the credibility of the Fleet Manager.” Connector and BDO will be responding to the market’s needs by jointly launching in January a fleet-specific service around IFRS with content and calculations.

For more information about tax related questions, contact Connector at connector@connector.expert.