A taxing decision
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Company car driver taxation
Company car driver taxation is the tax a driver pays for the privilege of being given a company car. As an employee benefit, the company car is taxed on an equation of vehicle cost and efficiency. In many European countries, a cheaper, low-emitting vehicle will minimise tax obligation, while an expensive and inefficient one will leave the driver facing a large tax bill.
The basic rule of company car driver taxation is that low emissions and a lower price are the best way to keep the tax man away from your pay packet, while of course making sure the car is appropriate for the Job in hand.
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Employer tax contributions
While company car driver taxation is the big deal for drivers, for companies it’s employer tax contributions that should be a prime focus but is sometimes forgotten. Fortunately the priorities dovetail with driver taxation, in that it’s price and CO2 emissions that define payments. Any car that is available for employee’s private use, be it a company car or a pool car, is exposed to Employer tax contributions. Only vehicles that are solely for business use, such as service engineers travelling to appointments or pool cars for employees to travel to a temporary workplace, are usually exempt.
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Vehicle road tax
Predictably, given the general trends in Government taxation regimes, vehicle road tax is usually also CO2 emission based. There are often different taxation bands with the lowest, often sub-100 g/km cars, being exempt from vehicle road tax payments, while the high poluting cars will often incur very expensive bills.
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Company tax allowances
In many countries, companies are able to claim capital allowance on equipment for business use, enabling firms to write down the cost against their taxable income. For cars, this, like all the other tax policies, can also be CO2 based, but the decisions can have major ramifications for companies that buy their vehicles outright rather than leasing them.
Taking very low emission cars can often be an advantageous move, because low emission vehicles can be eligible for a 100 per cent first-year write-down allowance. In contrast, cars bought outright that are highly polluting can be something of a balance sheet liability.
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Rio’s eco dynamic delivery
One model in the Kia range, the Kia Rio, has certainly earned its eco credentials, by winning the What Car? Ultra Low Carbon Award. Speaking at the time, What Car? Editor-in-Chief, Chas Hallett, praised Kia for its ‘dramatic progress’ in launching cars with the ‘lowest average CO2 emissions’.
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