Additional Information

Approved CO2 emissions figure
Cars sold in the UK and in other European Community countries have to be submitted by their manufacturers or importers for a 'type approval' test. The level of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted from the car's exhaust is one of the factors tested. The approved CO2 emissions figure for car benefit purposes is that which is recorded on the type approval certificate that summarises results of the type approval testing procedure.
For car benefit purposes, the CO2 emissions figure that applies at the date of first registration is set for the life of the car.

Finding the CO2 emissions figure

# For cars first registered in the UK from 1 March 2001 the approved CO2 emissions figure is shown on the vehicle registration document (V5) or its successor, the vehicle registration certificate (V5C).

# For cars first registered 1 January 1998 to 28 February 2001 the manufacturer should be able to provide the information if asked to, although some manufacturers may charge a small fee. Alternatively, you can find CO2 emissions figures as maintained by the Vehicle Certification Agency at their website www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk.

(Note: If you use this link, you will leave the company car and car fuel benefit calculator. To return, use the 'Back' button on your browser.).

# For cars first registered before 1 January 1998 the benefit depends only on engine size. It does not depend on the CO2 emissions figure, even if the car has one.

Capital contributions
Capital contributions made by an employee towards the cost of the car and/or accessories reduce the price of the car for tax purposes up to a limit of £5000.

Car availability during relevant tax year
The dates the car in question was available 'from' and 'to' in the specified tax year. If the car was first made available before the start of the tax year specified the 'from' date is 6 April. If the car ceased to be available after the end of the specified tax year, the 'to' date is 5 April.
You only need complete the fields if one or both dates do not apply.

Car does not have a CO2 emissions figure
A small number of cars will not have an approved CO2 emissions figure. These will probably be rare or one off models of car, or cars imported from outside the European Union. The benefit for these cars depends on engine size.

Engine capacity
This is the car's engine size in cubic centimetres (cc). For tax purposes the engine capacity falls into three categories

# 1400cc or less
# 1401 to 2000cc
# over 2000cc

Cars that do not have a recognised engine capacity (such as rotary engined cars) fall into the 'over 2000cc' category.

Cars powered by electricity alone should be included in the 'No engine size (electric cars only)' category.

Fuel type
The fuel type, or power, used to propel the car is split into seven separate categories for tax purposes

# Petrol (fuel type letter P) is for cars that run on petrol only.
# Diesel (fuel type letter D) is diesel cars that do not comply with the Euro IV emissions standard.
# Diesel complying with Euro IV Standard (fuel type letter L) is for diesel cars that are approved to Euro IV emissions standard.
# Electric (fuel type letter E) is for cars which run on electricity only.
# Hybrid Electric (fuel type letter H) is for cars that combine a petrol engine with an electric motor capable of propelling the car in normal driving.
# Bi-fuel or gas only (fuel type letter B) is for cars that run on gas only, or bi-fuel cars which have both gas and petrol tanks which had an approved CO2 emissions figure for gas when first registered.
# Conversion and other bi-fuel cars (fuel type letter C) is for petrol cars which have been converted to use gas as well and other bi-fuel cars which had an approved CO2 emissions figure for petrol only when first registered.

List price of car (including VAT and accessories)
For the purposes of this calculator the 'list price of the car' is the total of

# the UK list price of the car on the day before the date of first registration, including VAT, car tax (where appropriate) and delivery charges, plus
# the list price of any optional accessories with the car when it was first made available, plus
# the price of any accessories added to the car after it was first made available (if they were added after 31 July 1993 and had a list price of £100 or more)

More detailed information about the list price of a car is given in Booklet 480 Expenses and Benefits - A tax guide (PDF, 333K)

Number of days car unavailable during period above
A car is treated as being unavailable on any day if the day falls within a period of 30 consecutive days or more throughout which the car is not available to the employee. Any interruption in the period of the car's availability (for example, a car may be undergoing extensive repairs at a garage) must therefore be at least 30 days to qualify for any reduction to the car benefit charge. Please note the 30 consecutive days do not all have to be in the same tax year.

Payments made towards private use
Payments made to the employer for the private use of a company car are deducted from the car benefit charge after taking into account periods of unavailability.
To qualify as a deduction

# there must be a requirement in the tax year to make payments as a condition of the car being available for private use
# the payments must be specifically for that private use
# the payments must actually have been made.
Payments for supplies or services, such as petrol or insurance, do not count.

Private Fuel
A fuel benefit charge applies where, by reason of the employment, a company car is made available for private use and any fuel is provided for it.
The charge is reduced to nil if

# fuel is made available only for business travel or
# in the tax year, the employee is required to make good the whole cost of the fuel used for private motoring (including travel between home and work) and actually does so.

No charge is incurred if a mileage allowance is paid covering no more than the cost of fuel used on business travel.

Tax year
The tax year runs from 6 April to the following 5 April.