Part 4Employment income: exemptions

Chapter 3Exemptions: other transport, travel and subsistence

242Works transport services

1

No liability to income tax arises in respect of the provision for employees of a works transport service if—

a

the service is available generally to employees of the employer (or each employer) concerned,

b

the main use of the service is for qualifying journeys by those employees, and

c

the service—

i

is used only by the employees for whom it is provided or their children, or

ii

is substantially used only by those employees or children.

2

In this section—

  • children” includes stepchildren and illegitimate children but does not include children aged 18 or over, and

  • works transport service” means a service which is provided by means of a bus or a minibus for conveying employees of one or more employers on qualifying journeys.

3

For the purposes of this section—

a

bus” means a road passenger vehicle which has a seating capacity of 12 or more, and

b

minibus” means a vehicle constructed or adapted for the carriage of passengers which has a seating capacity of 9, 10 or 11.

4

But a vehicle which falls within the definition in subsection (3)(b) is not a minibus for the purposes of this section if—

a

it has one or more disqualified seats, and

b

excluding the disqualified seats, it has a seating capacity of 8 or less.

5

For the purposes of subsections (3) and (4) the seating capacity of a vehicle is determined in the same way as for the purposes of Part 3 of Schedule 1 to VERA 1994 (vehicle excise duty on buses).

This applies whether or not the vehicle is a bus within the meaning of that Part of that Schedule.

6

For the purposes of subsection (4) a seat is disqualified if relevant construction and use requirements are not met in relation to it.

In this subsection “construction and use requirements” has the same meaning as in Part 2 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (c. 52) or, in Northern Ireland, Part III of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (S.I. 1995/2994 (N.I. 18)).