The total number of cars on UK roads has remained at around the same level for the last two years, according to new information from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
Newly published figures taken from the 2013/2014 tax year have revealed that benefit-in-kind was paid on a total of around 940,000 company cars.æ This number was a decline by 10,000 cars on the 2011/2012 financial year, but still suggested that levels had stabilised, following the constant decline since 2000, when 1.16m people paid BIK on their vehicles.
The number of people paying BIK tax on privately used fuel also declined according to the figures, with 200,000 employees paying BIK in the 2013/2014 year compared to 220,000 in 2012/2013 and 240,000 in 2011/2014.
For a number of years, tax experts have claimed that the majority of employees would actually be better off paying for fuel use out of their own pocket. Another noticeable decline came in the number of employees currently paying tax on mileage allowances in excess of the current AMAP (Approved Mileage Allowance Payment) rate. HMRC has already attributed the reduction in the number of employees to 290,000 in the 2013/2014 financial year to the increase in fuel prices during that same period. Overall, the number of employees paying BIK tax on vans increase from 60,000 to 70,000 across the 2012/2013 to 2013/2014.
