Understanding The Results
This page lists company car tax and capital allowance results for current cars using data from the DriveSmart company car benefit table.
P11D Value
The P11D value is the taxable value of the company car used to calculate the Benefit-in-Kind (BIK).
BIK Percentage
The BIK percentage is applied to the P11D value to calculate the annual taxable company car benefit.
Annual And Monthly Benefit
The annual benefit is the taxable company car benefit for the tax year. The monthly benefit is shown to help users compare the taxable value on a monthly basis.
Employer National Insurance
Employers normally pay Class 1A National Insurance on taxable company car benefits. The Employer NIC column shows the employer National Insurance cost based on the annual company car benefit.
Tax Columns
The tax columns show estimated annual company car tax at common tax rates. Scottish tax columns can be displayed using the Scotland option above the results table.
Capital Allowance Type
The Capital Allowance column shows the broad capital allowance treatment for the company car.
- 100% First Year Allowance – qualifying new zero-emission cars may receive immediate tax relief for the qualifying cost.
- Main Pool – lower-emission cars that do not qualify for 100% First Year Allowances may receive Writing Down Allowances through the Main Pool.
- Special Rate Pool – higher-emission cars may receive Writing Down Allowances through the Special Rate Pool.
Allowance Rate
The Allowance Rate column shows the headline capital allowance rate used for the broad category.
- 100% for qualifying 100% First Year Allowance cars.
- 14% for Main Pool Writing Down Allowances.
- 6% for Special Rate Pool Writing Down Allowances.
First Year Allowance
The First Year Allowance column indicates whether the vehicle is treated as potentially eligible for 100% First Year Allowances.
Small Business Tax Guidance
The 'Show Small Business Tax Guidance' option displays an additional note for small businesses, company directors and owner-managed companies.
It does not change the results in the table. The company car tax and capital allowance columns continue to show the company car position.
The note explains that Annual Investment Allowance can be important for vans and other qualifying plant and machinery, but company cars have separate capital allowance rules.
Business Tax Relief Timing
The Business Tax Relief column gives a plain-English indication of whether tax relief is likely to be immediate or spread over time.
Annual Investment Allowance
Annual Investment Allowance is generally more relevant to vans and plant and machinery than to company cars. This page focuses on company car capital allowance treatment.
Fuel Types
The Fuel column uses manufacturer and CAP-HPI vehicle data to identify the vehicle propulsion system.
- Petrol – conventional petrol-powered vehicles.
- Diesel – conventional diesel-powered vehicles.
- Electric – battery electric vehicles (BEV).
- Hydrogen Fuel Cell – vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel-cell technology.
- Hybrid – vehicles using both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor.
- Mild Hybrid (MHEV) – hybrid vehicles where the electric system assists the engine but cannot normally power the vehicle independently for extended distances.
- Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) – vehicles that can be charged externally and driven for part of a journey using electric power.
- Series PHEV – plug-in hybrids where the engine primarily acts as a generator to produce electricity.
- Parallel PHEV – plug-in hybrids where the engine and electric motor can both contribute directly to driving the wheels.
You can search for fuel types using terms such as Electric, Hybrid, Mild Hybrid, MHEV, Plug-in Hybrid, PHEV and Range Extender. Searches are not case-sensitive, so lower-case versions such as electric, phev or range extender will also work.
Capital Allowance Search Terms
You can search for capital allowance terms such as FYA, First Year Allowance, Main Pool, Special Rate Pool, 100%, 14% and 6%.
Display
Click on the 'Results Display' to search for cars displaying '20 Results', '50 Results', '100 Results' or 'All Results'.
Click on the column headings to sort the results by that column. For example, click on 'P11D Value' to sort by P11D value, or 'Capital Allowance' to sort by capital allowance type.
Search Bar
You can also use the search bar to find specific manufacturers, models, derivatives, fuel types or capital allowance categories.
Important Notes
Calculations are based on standard vehicle data. Factory options, accessories, private use contributions and capital contributions may affect the final taxable position.
Capital allowance treatment may depend on the date of purchase, whether the vehicle is new or used, accounting periods, transitional rules and the business tax position.
DriveSmart provides factual comparison data and does not recommend cars or rank cars as best or worst.
DriveSmart reviews this page whenever HMRC or OZEV announce significant changes to the legislation or grant schemes affecting this topic.
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