Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 section 117

Meaning of car or van made available by reason of employment

Section 117 establishes when a car or van provided by an employer is treated as being made available by reason of the employment, and sets out two specific exceptions to that general rule.

• A car or van made available by an employer to an employee, or a member of their family or household, is automatically treated as provided by reason of the employment unless one of two exceptions applies.
• The first exception is where the employer is an individual and the car or van is provided in the normal course of the employer's domestic, family or personal relationships.
• The second exception is where the employer runs a vehicle hire business, the car or van is hired to the employee in the normal course of that business, and the employee is acting as an ordinary member of the public.
• For a taxable benefit to arise, the car or van must be made available by reason of the employment, so these exceptions can remove what would otherwise be a tax charge.