SE23140 - Car benefits: price of the car as regards a year - notional price

Section 168A(1) and (8) 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.

Where the relevant car does not have a UK list price, its notional price is used instead

The notional price of a car is the price which it might reasonably have been expected to be its list price if its manufacturer, importer or distributor had published a price as the inclusive price appropriate for an equivalent car if sold in the United Kingdom singly in a retail sale in the open market on the relevant day. For the meaning of relevant day and inclusive price see SE23102 - SE23103.

An equivalent car for this purpose is a car

• of the same kind as the relevant car, and
• with accessories equivalent to the qualifying accessories available with the relevant car at the time when it was first made available to the employee.

This means that the car and all of the qualifying accessories provided with it when it was first made available to the employee are considered together in arriving at its notional price.

It is expected that the great majority of cars will have a list price. Cars with a notional price will be rare - for example one-off imports in the specialist market. Where new cars are concerned, evidence of the notional price may be available from the order documents or from independent publications which deal with these vehicles. Cases of difficulty should be submitted to Employment Income Technical.