Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003

Vans: value of exclusive availability

157 Value of exclusive availability

The value of exclusive availability is calculated as follows—

• Step 1

  Determine the age of the van.

• Step 2

  If the age of the van is less than 4 years at the end of the tax year in question, the basic value of the van for the year is £500.

  In any other case, the basic value of the van for the year is £350.

• Step 3

  Make any deduction from the basic value of the van under section 158 for any periods when the van was unavailable or a shared van.

  The resulting amount is the provisional sum.

• Step 4

  Make any deduction from the provisional sum under section 159 in respect of payments by the employee for the private use of the van.

  The result is the value of exclusive availability.

158 Deduction for periods of unavailability or shared use

(1) A deduction is to be made from the basic value of the van calculated under step 2 of section 157 if there are any excluded days during the tax year in question.

(2) In this section an “excluded day” means a day on which—

(a) the van is unavailable (see subsection (4)), or

(b) the van is a shared van.

(3) The amount of the deduction is given by the formula—

where—

• E is the number of excluded days in the year,

• Y is the number of days in the year, and

• B is the basic value of the van calculated under step 2 of section 157.

(4) For the purposes of this section a van is unavailable on any day if the day—

(a) falls before the first day on which the van is available to the employee,

(b) falls after the last day on which the van is available to the employee, or

(c) falls within a period of 30 days or more throughout which the van is not available to the employee.

159 Deduction for payments for private use

(1) A deduction is to be made from the provisional sum calculated under step 3 of section 157 if, as a condition of the van being available for the employee’s private use, the employee—

(a) is required in the tax year in question to pay (whether by way of deduction from earnings or otherwise) an amount of money for that use, and

(b) makes such payment.

(2) If the amount paid by the employee in respect of that year is equal to or exceeds the provisional sum, the provisional sum is reduced so that the value of exclusive availability is nil.

(3) In any other case the amount paid by the employee in respect of the year is deducted from the provisional sum in order to give the value of exclusive availability.

(4) If the van is a shared van for any part of the tax year in question, the reference in subsection (1) to the employee’s private use in that year is to be read as a reference to the employee’s private use in that part of the year when the van is not a shared van.

(5) In this section any reference to the van being available for the employee’s private use includes a reference to the van being available for the private use of a member of the employee’s family or household.