Who benefits from company cars?

Employers must balance cost and business efficiency with corporate responsibility and employee aspirations as the debate about the merits of the company car as a benefit intensifies, a report has urged.

In its report, Goodbye Company Car? professional services firm Deloitte argues that, far from abandoning the company car employers need to use a combination of benefit schemes.

In 1999-2000 there were 1.61 million people paying benefit-in-kind tax on their company cars, according to HMRC. However, by 2003-4, the latest year for which data is available, the number has dropped to 1.3 million.

But Alison Chapman, head of automotive tax at Deloitte, said this trend could be reversed

“In the future, the company car will not be confined to the scrapyard,” she said. “The government has made it clear that it wants the company car to remain a key part of the corporate landscape as it steers businesses and drivers towards choosing the most environmentally-friendly vehicles available.”