SE23130 - Car benefits: accessories made available at the time the car is first made available; optional accessories included in the list price of the car

Section 168A(4), (5) and (9)(b) ICTA 1988

Before reading the text that follows this paragraph, ensure that you are familiar with

• the general introduction to the calculation of price of a car as regards a year at SE23100
• the flowchart setting out the steps involved in calculating the price of a car as regards a year at SE23100a.

The price of an optional accessory is included in the list price of the car if

• the optional accessory is a qualifying accessory (see SE23127), and
• it was available with the car at the time when a car was first made available to the employee, and
• a price was published by the car's manufacturer, importer or distributor (as the case may be) as the inclusive price appropriate for an equivalent accessory if sold with a car of the same kind as the relevant car in the United Kingdom singly in a retail sale in the open market on the relevant day.

The “relevant day” is the same as for the car - the date of its first registration ( SE23102)

The inclusive price of the accessory is the published price which includes

• any charge for delivery by the manufacturer, importer or distributor to the seller's place of business, and
• any relevant tax, and
• any charge for fitting the accessory.

“Relevant tax” has the same meaning as at SE23103.

In practice, price lists for cars show the prices of various models of the same type of car and also the prices of optional accessories (for example, automatic transmission, sun-roof, etc.). The list price of the relevant car can then be taken as the sum of the prices published for the particular model and the optional accessories, which were included with that car when it was first made available to the employee, at the time when the car was first registered.

See example SE23185 for an example of how the price of a car is calculated – including how accessories are taken into account.