Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003

[F1 Van fuel: benefit treated as earnings U.K.

Textual Amendments

F1 Ss. 155-164 substituted for ss. 155-166 (with effect in accordance with s. 80(2) of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2004 (c. 12), Sch. 14 para. 5

160 Benefit of van fuel treated as earnings U.K.

(1) If in a tax year—

(a) fuel is provided for a van by reason of an employee’s employment,

(b) that person is chargeable to tax in respect of the van by virtue of section 154, and

(c) the cash equivalent of the van for that year is that under section 155(2)(b),

the cash equivalent of the benefit of the fuel is to be treated as earnings from the employment for that year.

(2) The cash equivalent of the benefit of the fuel is calculated in accordance with sections 161 to 164.

(3) Fuel is to be treated as provided for a van, in addition to any other way in which it may be provided, if—

(a) any liability in respect of the provision of fuel for the van is discharged,

(b) a non-cash voucher or a credit-token is used to obtain fuel for the van,

(c) a non-cash voucher or a credit-token is used to obtain money which is spent on fuel for the van, or

(d) any sum is paid in respect of expenses incurred in providing fuel for the van.

(4) References in this section to fuel do not include any facility or means for supplying electrical energy for an electrically propelled vehicle.]

[F1 161 Van fuel: the cash equivalent U.K.

The cash equivalent of the benefit of the fuel is—

(a) where the tax year is the tax year 2005-06 or 2006-07, nil, and

(b) where the tax year is a later tax year, £500.]

[F1 162 Van fuel: nil cash equivalent U.K.

(1) The cash equivalent of the benefit of the fuel is nil if condition A or B is met.

(2) Condition A is met if in the tax year in question—

(a) the employee is required to make good to the person providing the fuel the whole of the expense incurred by that person in connection with the provision of the fuel for the employee’s private use, and

(b) the employee does make good that expense.

(3) Condition B is met if in the tax year in question the fuel is made available only for business travel (see section 171(1)).]

[F1 163 Van fuel: proportionate reduction of cash equivalent U.K.

(1) The cash equivalent of the benefit of the fuel is to be proportionately reduced if for any part of the tax year in question the van for which the fuel is provided is unavailable (within the meaning of section 156 (reduction for periods when van unavailable)).

(2) But if section 159 (van temporarily replaced) applies—

(a) section 160 applies as if the replacement van were the normal van, and

(b) for the purposes of subsection (1) the replacement van is to be treated as unavailable on the days during the period on which it replaces the normal van.

(3) The cash equivalent of the benefit of the fuel is also to be proportionately reduced if for any part of the tax year in question—

(a) the facility for the provision of fuel as mentioned in section 160 (1) is not available,

(b) the fuel is made available only for business travel (see section 171(1)), or

(c) the employee is required to make good to the person providing the fuel the whole of the expense incurred by that person in connection with the provision of the fuel for the employee’s private use and the employee does make good that expense.

(4) The fact that any of the conditions specified in subsection (3) is met for part of a tax year is to be disregarded if there is a time later in that year when none of those conditions is met.

(5) Where the cash equivalent is to be proportionately reduced under subsection (1) or (3) (or under both those subsections), the reduced amount is given by the formula—

where—

CE is the amount of the cash equivalent before any reduction,

Y is the number of days in the tax year in question, and

D is the total number of days in the tax year on which either the van is unavailable or one or more of the conditions in subsection (3) is met.]

[F1 164 Van fuel: reduction of cash equivalent U.K.

If a reduction of the cash equivalent of the benefit of the van for which the fuel is provided is made under section 157 (reduction of cash equivalent where van is shared), a corresponding reduction is to be made in relation to the cash equivalent of the benefit of the fuel.]