SE23156 - Car benefits: accessories - personalised car number plates

Under the arrangements for taxing company cars, the number plate itself - that is the piece of metal or plastic with the numbers and letters upon it - is a qualifying accessory. This means it must be included in the price of the car as regards the year for tax purposes.

But if the car is re-registered with a new plate the rules about accessories added after the car is first made available ( SE23150) or replacement accessories ( SE23155) may apply. So, for example, a number plate added a year after the employee first had the car costs less than £100, it will be disregarded in establishing the price of the car.

However, most of the value in personalised or cherished number plates lies in the intangible right to use a particular registration mark. This right is separate from the price of the plate itself.

The value of that right is not to be included in the list price or notional price of the car provided to the employee.

You should also note that the provision of a personalised number plate on a company car will not give rise to a taxable benefit over and above the car benefit charge. This is because of a prohibition on tax charges on other benefits arising in connection with the car, as outlined at SE23005. The benefit of a personalised number plate is within this prohibition because it is a benefit in connection with the car.

These comments apply only where an employer, or somebody acting on the employer's behalf, pays for a personalised number plate for a car to which a car benefit scale charge applies. There is no bar to assessing a benefit if the employer pays for the re-registration of the director's own car.