Company vans

HMRC classes a ‘goods vehicle’ with a max loaded weight of 3,500 kg as a company van. If it’s used for any personal use, you need to report fuel used for personal use and the van itself as a benefit and pay Class 1 NICs, as you would with a company car.

The taxable benefit for all vans has been frozen at £3,000 for the tax year 2011-2012 while the van fuel benefit charge is also frozen at £550. Furthermore, while VED rates rose in line with inflation from 1 April 2011 for cars and smaller commercial vehicles, the rates for heavy goods vehicles were frozen for this year and next year.

As with cars, employees pay tax on fuel used for private mileage and pay Class 1A national insurance contributions on vans available for private use. More details on the HMRC website.

However, if the driver covers no private mileage in the van, he or she will not have to pay company van tax. The taxman does not count driving the van between home and work as private mileage.

Van VED rates

Visit www.direct.gov.uk/ for more information.

 Last updated: April 2011.