Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988

156 Cash equivalents of benefits charged under section 154

(1) The cash equivalent of any benefit chargeable to tax under section 154 is an amount equal to the cost of the benefit, less so much (if any) of it as is made good by the employee to those providing the benefit.

(2) Subject to the following subsections, the cost of a benefit is the amount of any expense incurred in or in connection with its provision, and (here and in those subsections) includes a proper proportion of any expense relating partly to the benefit and partly to other matters.

(3) Where the benefit consists in the transfer of an asset by any person, and since that person acquired or produced the asset it has been used or has depreciated, the cost of the benefit is deemed to be the market value of the asset at the time of transfer.

(4) Where the asset referred to in subsection (3) above is not a car and before the transfer a person (whether or not the transferee) has been chargeable to tax in respect of the asset in accordance with subsection (5) below, the amount which under subsection (3) above is deemed to be the cost of the benefit shall (if apart from this subsection it would be less) be deemed to be—

(a) the market value of the asset at the time when it was first applied (by those providing the benefit in question) for the provision of any benefit for a person, or for members of his family or household, by reason of his employment, less

(b) the aggregate of the amounts taken into account as the cost of the benefit in charging tax in accordance with subsection (5) below in the year or years up to and including that in which the transfer takes place.

(5) Where the benefit consists in an asset being placed at the employee’s disposal, or at the disposal of others being members of his family or household, for his or their use (without any transfer of the property in the asset), or of its being used wholly or partly for his or their purposes, then the cost of the benefit in any year is deemed to be—

(a) the annual value of the use of the asset ascertained under subsection (6) below; plus

(b) the total of any expense incurred in or in connection with the provision of the benefit excluding—

(i) the expense of acquiring or producing it incurred by the person to whom the asset belongs; and

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

(6) Subject to subsection (7) below, the annual value of the use of the asset, for the purposes of subsection (5) above—

(a) in the case of land, is its annual value determined in accordance with section 837; and

(b) in any other case is 20 per cent. of its market value at the time when it was first applied (by those providing the benefit in question) in the provision of any benefit for a person, or for members of his family or household, by reason of his employment.

(7) Where there is payable, by those providing the benefit, any sum by way of rent or hire-charge for the asset, the annual amount of which is equal to, or greater than, the annual value of the use of the asset as ascertained under subsection (6) above, that amount shall be substituted for the annual value in subsection (5)(a) above.

(8) From the cash equivalent there are deductible in each case under section 198, 201 or 332(3) such amounts (if any) as would have been so deductible if the cost of the benefit had been incurred by the employee out of his emoluments.

(9) In the case of assets first applied before 6th April 1980 by those providing the benefit in question in the provision of any benefit for a person, or for members of his family or household, by reason of his employment—

(a) subsection (4) above shall not have effect; and

(b) in subsection (6)(b) above for the words “20 per cent.” there shall be substituted the words “10 per cent.”.