Kevin Mc

If an employee who does not have a company car (and therefore is paying no tax on the benefit) is using a spare company car for personal use, should he/she be liable for any tax? Assume they are not putting their own petrol money in for private use.

I know they would if the car was being used all year round, though what about a few weekends in a row? What period of time would it take for the Inland Revenue to start wanting a slice?

This has reminded me - a company I used to work at years ago, the MD was on £440,000 per year (he owned the company) yet drove a 'pool' Montego estate, so he didn't have to pay the company car tax!

ProperCharlie

In my experience, if you are using a pool car *occasionallly*, then the tax man does not have to know about it and therefore it does not become an issue. Let's face it, they take enough money off us as it is.

Kevin Mc

I know they could get away with it if the IR didn't know, but what if they did?

Problem is more complicated as the car is one left over from someone who's left the company, and is being used by other employees whilst it's sitting there.

I don't think it qualifies as a pool car - see section 15.1c here:

http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/pdfs...1/480-2001.pdf

as it will be kept overnight at the employees house.

Also point c as it won't be for "incidental" use (unless a couple of hundred miles is incidental).

ProperCharlie

Obviously if you go by 'the letter of the law' then it's very difficult to claim use as pool car. My point is who is going to know, and are they going to care that much? There are much more serious things for auditors to wrry about then whether someone has had 'personal' use of a compnay car for a few weeks.

Mungo

For a few weeks doesn't necessarily matter - in the definition it has to be >60% of the year.

SiCotty

The people who care are those that drive company cars and pay the tax. Also if you don't have a company car and borrow a pool car for non company business the company might declares this to the tax man in the P11D they send out.

Si

Nick n Jewels

Was the Ex-employee using it as a company car? did he/she have to submitt mileage records/figures?

If so then when ever the car is moved on there may be a potential problem with the difference in milage when the employee left and accounting for milage on the clock since that period.

And.........is the car insured all drivers with authorisation??

Just a few thoughts

J

PPPMAT

IR did me for 6 months back tax for this. Pool car, but kept at my house overnight and to be fair mostly used by me. Diesel astra aaaaaaaaarrrrrgggghhhh

DJ Dunk

iTrader: (5)

If its used for personal use then, yes, you have to pay tax on it.