Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003

Determination of the cost of the benefit U.K.

204 Cost of the benefit: basic rule U.K.

The cost of an employment-related benefit is the expense incurred in or in connection with provision of the benefit (including a proper proportion of any expense relating partly to provision of the benefit and partly to other matters).

205 Cost of the benefit: asset made available without transfer U.K.

(1) The cost of an employment-related benefit (“the taxable benefit”) is determined in accordance with this section if—

[F1 (a) the benefit consists in an asset being made available for private use, and]

(b) there is no transfer of the property in the asset.

[F2 (1A) In this section and section 205A, “private use” means private use by the employee or a member of the employee's family or household.

(1B) For the purposes of subsection (1) and sections 205A and 205B, an asset made available in a tax year for use by the employee or a member of the employee's family or household is to be treated as made available throughout the year for private use unless—

(a) at all times in the year when it is available for use by the employee or a member of the employee's family or household, the terms under which it is made available prohibit private use, and

(b) no private use is made of it in the year.

(1C) The cost of the taxable benefit is—

(a) the annual cost of the benefit determined in accordance with subsection (2), less

(b) any amount required to be deducted by section 205A (deduction for periods when asset unavailable for private use).

(1D) In certain cases, the cost of the taxable benefit is calculated under this section in accordance with section 205B (reduction of cost of taxable benefit where asset is shared).]

(2) The [F3 annual cost of the] benefit is the higher of—

(a) the annual value of the use of the asset, and

(b) the annual amount of the sums, if any, paid by those providing the benefit by way of rent or hire charge for the asset,

together with the amount of any additional expense.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2), the annual value of the use of an asset is—

(a) in the case of land, its annual rental value;

(b) in any other case, 20% of the market value of the asset at the time when those providing the taxable benefit first applied the asset in the provision of an employment-related benefit (whether or not the person provided with that benefit is also the person provided with the taxable benefit).

If those providing the taxable benefit first applied the asset in the provision of an employment-related benefit before 6th April 1980, paragraph (b) is to be read as if the reference to 20% were a reference to 10%.

(4) In this section “additional expense” means the expense incurred in or in connection with provision of the taxable benefit (including a proper proportion of any expense relating partly to provision of the benefit and partly to other matters), other than—

(a) the expense of acquiring or producing the asset incurred by the person to whom the asset belongs, and

(b) any rent or hire charge payable for the asset by those providing the asset.

[F4 (5) Where the asset is an emergency vehicle, the expense of providing fuel for it in a tax year is not an additional expense by virtue of subsection (4) so long as—

(a) the person incurring that expense incurs no expense in that tax year in the provision of fuel for the vehicle which is used for the employee's private travel (“private fuel expense”), or

(b) all private fuel expense that the person does incur in that tax year is made good by the employee on or before 6 July following the tax year.

(6) For the purposes of this section—

• “emergency vehicle” has the same meaning as in section 248A;

• “fuel” includes electrical energy;

• “private travel” means travelling the expenses of which, if incurred and paid by the employee, would not be deductible under Chapter 2 or 5 of Part 5.]

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 205(1)(a) substituted (with effect in accordance with s. 8(5) of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2017 (c. 10), s. 8(2)(a)

F2 S. 205(1A)-(1D) inserted (with effect in accordance with s. 8(5) of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2017 (c. 10), s. 8(2)(b)

F3 Words in s. 205(2) substituted (with effect in accordance with s. 8(5) of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2017 (c. 10), s. 8(2)(c)

F4 S. 205(5)(6) inserted (with effect in accordance with s. 9(5) of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2019 (c. 1), s. 9(4)

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C2 S. 205 modified (12.2.2019) by Finance Act 2019 (c. 1), s. 9(6)-(8)

[F5 205A Deduction for periods when asset unavailable for private use U.K.

(1) A deduction is to be made under section 205(1C)(b) if the asset mentioned in section 205(1) has been unavailable for private use on any day during the tax year concerned.

(2) For the purposes of this section an asset is “unavailable” for private use on any day if—

(a) that day falls before the day on which the asset is first available to the employee,

(b) that day falls after the day on which the asset is last available to the employee,

(c) for more than 12 hours during that day the asset—

(i) is not in a condition fit for use,

(ii) is undergoing repair or maintenance,

(iii) could not lawfully be used,

(iv) is in the possession of a person who has a lien over it and who is not the employer, not a person connected with the employer, not the employee, not a member of the employee's family and not a member of the employee's household, or

(v) is used in a way that is neither use by, nor use at the direction of, the employee or a member of the employee's family or household, or

(d) on that day the employee—

(i) uses the asset in the performance of the duties of the employment, and

(ii) does not use the asset otherwise than in the performance of the duties of the employment.

(3) The amount of the deduction is given by—

where—

U is the number of days, in the tax year concerned, on which the asset is unavailable for private use,

Y is the number of days in that year, and

A is the annual cost of the benefit of the asset determined under section 205(2).

(4) The reference in subsection (2)(a) to the time when the asset is first available to the employee is to the earliest time when the asset is made available, by reason of the employment and without any transfer of the property in it, for private use.

(5) The reference in subsection (2)(b) to the time when the asset is last available to the employee is to the last time when the asset is made available, by reason of the employment and without any transfer of the property in it, for private use.

Textual Amendments

F5 Ss. 205A, 205B inserted (with effect in accordance with s. 8(5) of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2017 (c. 10), s. 8(3)

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C3 S. 205A modified (12.2.2019) by Finance Act 2019 (c. 1), s. 9(6)-(8)

205B Reduction of cost of taxable benefit where asset is shared U.K.

(1) This section applies where the cost of an employment-related benefit (“the taxable benefit”) is to be determined under section 205.

(2) If, for the whole or part of the tax year concerned, the same asset is available for more than one employee's private use at the same time, the total of the amounts which are the cost of the taxable benefit for each of those employees is to be limited to the annual cost of the benefit of the asset determined in accordance with section 205(2).

(3) The cost of the taxable benefit for each employee is determined by taking the amount given by section 205(1C) and then reducing that amount on a just and reasonable basis.

(4) For the purposes of this section, an asset is available for an employee's private use if it is available for private use by the employee or a member of the employee's family or household.]

Textual Amendments

F5 Ss. 205A, 205B inserted (with effect in accordance with s. 8(5) of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2017 (c. 10), s. 8(3)

206 Cost of the benefit: transfer of used or depreciated asset U.K.

(1) The cost of an employment-related benefit is determined in accordance with this section if—

(a) the benefit consists in the transfer of an asset, and

(b) the asset has been used, or has depreciated, since the person transferring the asset (“the transferor”) acquired or produced it.

(2) The cost of the benefit is the market value of the asset at the time of the transfer.

(3) But the cost of the benefit (“the current benefit”) is the higher of the market value of the asset at the time of the transfer and the amount calculated in accordance with subsection (5) if—

(a) the asset is not [F6 an excluded asset (see subsection (6))] ,

(b) the asset has previously been applied in the provision of a relevant employment-related benefit (whether or not the person provided with that benefit is also the transferee), and

(c) the transferor first applied the asset in the provision of an employment-related benefit after 5th April 1980.

(4) In this section “relevant employment-related benefit” means an employment-related benefit the cost of which was to be determined in accordance with section 205.

(5) The amount referred to in subsection (3) is calculated in accordance with the following steps—

Step 1

Determine the tax years in which the asset was applied in the provision of a relevant employment-related benefit (including, if appropriate, the current tax year).

Step 2

Determine the cost of the benefit for each of those tax years in accordance with section 205.

Step 3

Calculate the total of the amounts determined under step 2.

Step 4

Calculate the market value of the asset at the time when the transferor first applied it in the provision of an employment-related benefit.

Step 5

Deduct the total calculated under step 3 from the market value calculated under step 4.

The result is the amount referred to in subsection (3).

[F7 (6) An excluded asset is—

(a) a car (within the meaning of Chapter 6),

(b) computer equipment that has previously been applied as mentioned in subsection (3)(b) in circumstances in which the conditions set out in section 320 were met, or

(c) a cycle or cyclist's safety equipment that has previously been so applied in circumstances in which the conditions set out in section 244 were met.]

Textual Amendments

F6 Words in s. 206(3)(a) substituted (with effect in accordance with s. 17(4) of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2005 (c. 7), s. 17(2)

F7 S. 206(6) inserted (with effect in accordance with s. 17(4) of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2005 (c. 7), s. 17(3)