Parkers calls for BIK rate reveal

Written by Parkers Published: 8 June 2011 Updated: 1 February 2017

Parkers and Company Car Driver are calling for the government to remain ahead of the curve when publishing BIK taxation information.

As company car tax is on the increase and drivers are paying more and more to use business cars, many company car drivers are choosing cars now without any idea how much they'll have to pay in three years' time.

At present, people who run a company car must pay BIK - or benefit in kind - taxation on their car. The amount paid is calculated using a table published by the government, in which cars emitting certain levels of CO2 are charged a certain percentage of the P11d value of their car.

Until now, BIK taxation has been published for the next three tax years. However the current coalition Government has only seen fit to publish taxation details for the next two years, with no information available for taxation after the 2013-14 tax year.

This means for many company car drivers picking a car now that they intend to keep for more than three years, they don't know how much they'll have to pay in company car tax after the 2013-14 tax year. This makes it next to impossible to budget for running a car for the entirety of the company car lease period.

As fleet managers try to cut costs by extending company car lease periods in an effort to reduce spend on new cars, this problem is likely to become more widespread.

Parkers and Company Car Driver would like to urge the government to publish BIK bands for the next five years, so company car drivers can choose their next car safe in the knowledge that no un-expected costs will be incurred.

To help readers understand the scope of the problem, Company Car Driver has compiled a case study of some popular company cars, how much they cost this year in company car tax and how much they'll cost in the 2013-14 tax year. There's no telling how much the government will increase taxation after 2013-14, so picking your company car and being able to budget for it could be called a bit of a lottery.

 

VW Golf Bluemotion 1.6 TDI 3dr

List price: £18,665 CO2 emissions: 99g/km BIK liability this year: 13% BIK liability in 2013-14: 16% Cost per month this year*: £40.44 Cost per month in 2013-14*: £49.77 Increase in 3 years*: £9.33/month or £111.96/year

 

Ford Mondeo Estate 1.6 TDCI ECO stop/start Titanium X

List price: £23,545 CO2 emissions: 114g/km BIK liability this year: 13% BIK liability in 2013-14: 18% Cost per month this year*: £51.01 Cost per month in 2013-14*: £70.64 Increase over 3 years*: £19.63/month or £235.56/year

 

Audi A5 3.0 TDI Quattro SE S Tronic

List price: £37,275 CO2 emissions: 174g/km BIK liability this year: 28% BIK liability in 2013-14: 30% Cost per month this year*: £173.95 Cost per month in 2013-14*: £186.38 Increase over 3 years*: £12.43/month or £149.16/year

 

You can find out exactly how much your company car tax will be by using the Parkers company car tax calculator

*all costs per month worked out on the 20% pay scale. For 40% tax payers, just double it.