6 July is the deadline for employers (or their accountants) to submit P11D benefit in kind information to HMRC. Unfortunately we’ve spotted some benefits due on company vans that could have been avoided.
The van is exempt if it is only used for business journeys which are trips made as part of work or to a temporary workplace. As a surprisingly generous move ‘insignificant’ private journeys are exempt, for example making a slight detour to pick up a newspaper on the way to work.
What is NOT exempt is journeys between home and a permanent workplace such as a builder’s yard. Vans should be left in the yard overnight to avoid a benefit in kind.
Similarly company vans do not need to be declared if they are pool vans. In order to be classed as a pool van ALL of the following conditions must be met:
• available for use and used by more than 1 employee
• available to each employee because they need it to do their job
• not ordinarily used by 1 employee to the exclusion of others
• not normally kept at or near employees’ homes (this is the one that catches people out)
• used only for business journeys – limited private use is allowed, but only if it’s incidental to a business journey, for example driving home to allow an early start the next morning