Company Car on Maternity Leave

TT3

I am due to go on maternity leave in about 2 months. I am entitled to a company car but not taken it up, however my boss has said there’s a Ford Focus available in 1 week due to someone leaving, do I want it. My questions are, what are the tax implications of a company car while on maternity leave? Am I too close to maternity leave to avoid the tax? Is it up to the company whether I can use it while on leave?

MovingForwards

You will be better posting on one of work / tax boards

System

TT3 wrote: »

I am due to go on maternity leave in about 2 months. I am entitled to a company car but not taken it up, however my boss has said there’s a Ford Focus available in 1 week due to someone leaving, do I want it. My questions are, what are the tax implications of a company car while on maternity leave? Am I too close to maternity leave to avoid the tax? Is it up to the company whether I can use it while on leave?

Find out the BIK of that particular Ford Focus (there's loads of sites available) and pay particular attention to engine size and spec. Say it's £10k for arguments sake. That means that the benefit in kind is worth £10K per year on top of what you earn. Say you earn £30k normally, you'll be taxed on £40k because of the car. So factor that into your pay for this year now you're on maternity and that'll be your earnings you have this year.


Remember, a company car is in lieu of earnings and should be treated tax-wise as cash.