Company car tax changes

The Government is seeking to close down some minor loopholes in legislation. Slated for  the 2014 Finance Bill are measures to:

• Ensure individuals make payments for private use of a company car or van in the relevant tax year.
• Ensure that where an employer leases a car to an employee, the benefit is taxed as a car benefit rather than as employment earnings.

A spokesman for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said: “In both cases legislation is being tidied up to keep pace with current practice. There are no practical implications for employers or employees. Relevant explanatory documents will be published next week, but employers and employees should not have to do anything in practice that they are not already doing in terms of compliance.”

Car fuel benefit charge 2014/15

If you get all your fuel paid for by your company – so called free fuel – then you had better make sure it’s still financially viable.

From April 6, 2014 the fuel benefit charge multiplier for company cars will increase from £21,100 in 2013/14 to £21,700 in 2014/15.

This continues a government trend of making ‘free fuel’ an increasingly dubious ‘benefit’.

In other measures announced in the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor has abolished the paper tax disc (see Editor’s Blog), increased company van tax (click here for the story) and frozen the price of the MoT test until 2015 at £54.85.