There are many people who drive around the country every morning for work purposes and the same question always arises, do I stand in a blue zone, or do I use a private parking lot? At first, there doesn’t seem to be much difference, however, neither is the comfort for the employee the same, nor do they have the same advantages for the company or the self-employed. Understanding their differences makes it possible to organize business trips more efficiently and economically.
Tax advantage of private parking
The main difference from a company or self-employed person’s point of view is the possibility of recovering VAT on car parks. In fact, one of the strengths of 60dias is the collaboration agreements that our company has with the majority of car park companies in Spain, currently covering more than 90% of the private car park spaces offered in the country, which facilitates and speeds up the recovery of VAT on tickets. However, many travellers are not aware of the advantages of parking their cars in a private car park, and instead choose to use the O.R.A. parking meters by parking their car in the blue zone of the street.
Most of the O.R.A. tickets are issued by the local Town Halls or by public or semi-public companies that operate in the activity indicated as the Blue Zone, but with the exception that they are exempt from VAT since by law they are considered municipal taxes. There are some private companies that, after winning a public tender, can operate the activity and it is subject to VAT, but the vast majority of the car parks of the O.R.A. in Spain are operated by public companies as fees.
This difference can mean a considerable amount of money at the end of the year, especially for companies or self-employed people who, because of their activity, move around very often. With a little planning the economic benefits are clear.
Parking offers greater flexibility for the employee
For convenience, many travelers will leave their car as close as possible to the place they must visit, but with the multitude of options that each city offers in terms of parking, the traveler’s choice should always be a mixture of proximity and price. Taking into account that nowadays the differences in price per minute between parking in a car park and parking on the street are almost nil, the former becomes the preferred option for travelers. For the company, the benefit is clear, the recovery of input VAT.
Many private car parks have the advantage of being covered or underground, saving our vehicles from the adversities of the weather. In addition, the method of payment is another point in their favour, as the car park is paid for when you leave it, we do not have to worry if we need to keep the car inside for several hours, or even days, and we also eliminate the risk of fines if we miss the time.
However, in the Blue Zone, there are clear time limits which, once exceeded, will imply the renewal of the O.R.A. ticket, but what happens if we are in the middle of a business meeting and cannot renew the parking meter ticket? Are we going to interrupt it to take our mobile phone and renew it or, worse still, physically go to the parking meter to get a new ticket? Travellers who move around the country do not have to know the timetables of the O.R.A. of a local council and ignorance does not free us from fines.
In the end what the car park offers is peace of mind, being able to forget about the car and focus on our work and the security that in the face of unforeseen events we have the flexibility of time that the blue zone does not offer.
That is why we always recommend the use of private parking. The traveller gains peace of mind, the company recovers the VAT and 60dias guarantees its recovery without the employee having to ask for the complete invoice. To find out more, contact our professionals and we will inform you about our services.
