Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 section 154

Benefit of van treated as earnings

Section 154 establishes the principle that when an employer provides a van to an employee, the cash equivalent of that benefit is treated as taxable earnings from the employment.

• Where the van benefit rules apply for a tax year, the cash equivalent of the van benefit is treated as earnings from the employment for that year
• The employee is regarded as chargeable to tax on the van for that year, even if the cash equivalent works out at nil
• Any reference elsewhere in the Act to the van benefit being treated as earnings includes situations where the cash equivalent is nil
• These rules are subject to separate provisions dealing with optional remuneration arrangements under section 154A