How to keep your company car tax bills low

Close News by Alex Grant 3 mins read 3 April 2023 Share

Pick a plug-in

HMRC has spent the past 20 years using company car tax to incentivise low-CO2 vehicles. The latest overhaul, in 2020, introduced large incentives for vehicles emitting less than 50g/km – in other words, all electric and most plug-in hybrid models. If a plug-in suits your lifestyle, then choosing one is the easiest way to reduce your benefit-in-kind bill.

Until April 2025, electric cars (rated at 0g/km CO2) are taxed based on 2% of their list (P11d) price, whereas even the most efficient petrol or diesel models start at 29%. That’s usually enough to reduce your tax bill by 90%.

The mileage rates for petrol, diesel, hybrid and electric carsHow does hybrid company car tax work? How do you claim for charging an electric company car?How does home charging work for company car drivers?Company car tax bands: how much will you pay?

Autocar’s company car tax calculator shows exactly what you’ll pay for every make and model

For context, a 20% taxpayer in a £30,000 Vauxhall Astra GS Line diesel would pay around £154 in benefit-in-kind per month, whereas their boss on a 40% income tax band would pay £79 for a £120,000 BMW iX M60. It’s hardly surprising that battery-electric has become the most popular powertrain type for new fleet lease cars, according to the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA).

If you are not ready to ditch combustion engines completely, the benefit-in-kind bands also heavily incentivise plug-in hybrids with the longest electric range – and this can offset the higher list price.

For example, the Toyota RAV4 Plug-in has an electric-only range of 46 miles so it falls into the 8% BIK band, whereas the Ford Kuga ST-Line Edition travels 39 miles on a full charge and is taxed at 12% of the list price. Despite the Toyota’s £5000 list price disadvantage, drivers will pay around 25% less tax than they would on the Ford.

Be selective with options

In 2017, Europe’s automotive industry switched to a new fuel efficiency test, catchily known as the worldwide harmonised light vehicles test procedure, or WLTP. Alongside tougher test conditions, this produces more granular data, including recognising differences between trim levels and the effects of optional equipment on efficiency. Before you get carried away adding options, it’s worth double-checking that the larger wheels or panoramic sunroof you’ve just selected don’t push the car into a higher tax band. They can turn into expensive luxuries over a three-year lifespan.

Look out for fleet trims

Fleets and leasing companies have enough buying power to negotiate discounts on new cars that private buyers wouldn’t have access to. Unfortunately, this isn’t reflected in the list price and those discounts won’t result in lower benefit-in-kind for drivers.

To help pass those savings on, some manufacturers offer fleet-focused trim levels that add essential kit but effectively have the discount built into the list price. The result is lower benefit-in-kind payments than for an equivalent retail-focused version.

Latest Drives

Alpina B5 GT 2023 first drive

BMW X7 xDrive40d M Sport

Renault Clio E-Tech 2023 first drive

Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio 2023 first drive

Polestar 2 Long Range Single Motor RWD 2023 first drive

View all latest drives

Use commercial breaks

Commercial vehicles are a bit of a bargain in benefit-in-kind terms. Instead of being taxed based on a CO2-weighted percentage of their list price, they have a flat taxable value of £3600 (or £0 if they’re electric), which means they can be a tax-efficient alternative to a large car.

That loophole has created a market for double-cab pickups among open-minded company car drivers. These offer two rows of seats, high-spec trim levels and more towing capacity than most families would ever need but, so long as they can carry a one-tonne payload, they’re still classed as a commercial vehicle. If you can live with the thirst for fuel and the crashy ride quality, then they’re a much cheaper company vehicle than a similarly sized SUV.

Car news Advice Company cars

used cars for sale

Ford S-Max 2.0 TDCi Titanium X Sport Powershift Euro 5 5dr 2015 £14,295 57,000miles Diesel Automatic 5

Audi S5 3.0 TFSI V6 Sportback Tiptronic Quattro Euro 6 (s/s) 5dr 2017 £26,950 53,000miles Petrol Automatic 5

Citroen C3 1.0 PureTech VT Euro 6 5dr 2016 £6,000 27,000miles Petrol Manual 5

Nissan QASHQAI 1.2 DIG-T N-Connecta 2WD Euro 6 (s/s) 5dr 2016 £12,295 45,000miles Petrol Manual 5

Skoda CITIGO 1.0 MPI SE ASG Euro 5 5dr 2013 £6,495 50,000miles Petrol Automatic 5

Seat Leon 1.4 EcoTSI FR Euro 6 (s/s) 5dr 2016 £8,795 97,634miles Petrol Manual 5

Fiat 500 1.2 Colour Therapy Euro 6 (s/s) 3dr 2014 £5,000 73,000miles Petrol Manual 3

Porsche Cayenne 4.2 TD V8 S TiptronicS 4WD Euro 6 (s/s) 5dr 2016 £30,990 85,000miles Diesel Automatic 5

Nissan Qashqai 1.2 DIG-T N-tec+ 2WD Euro 6 (s/s) 5dr 2016 £10,995 55,621miles Petrol Manual 5 Next Prev View all cars Powerd By

Get all the best car news, reviews and opinions direct to your inbox three times a week. You can unsubscribe via any email we sendSee our full privacy notice for more details

Never miss an issue of the world’s oldest car magazine – subscribe to Autocar magazine today. Subscribe

How to keep your company car tax bills low

Related articles