Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 section 290F

Extra amounts to be added in connection with a car

Section 290F sets out how to calculate any extra amount that must be added to a minister of religion's earnings rate when a car is provided through their employment, particularly where an alternative to the car benefit has been offered.

• Where a car is made available to a minister of religion by reason of their employment, special rules apply when calculating the earnings rate under section 290E.
• If an alternative to the car benefit is offered during the tax year, and the notional earnings value of that alternative exceeds the "benefit code earnings", the excess must be added as an extra amount at step 2 of the section 290E calculation.
• The "benefit code earnings" is the total for the year of the cash equivalent of the car benefit itself, plus the cash equivalent of any fuel provided for the car by reason of the employment, both calculated under the normal benefits code rules for cars, vans and related benefits.
• The usual exemption from the benefits code that applies to lower-paid ministers of religion under section 290C(2) is specifically switched off for the purposes of these calculations.