SE23305 - Car benefits: calculating the car benefit charge 1994/95 to 1998/99; two or more cars simultaneously - effect on reductions for business mileage

Paragraphs 4 & 10 Schedule 6 ICTA 1988

Where an employee is chargeable in respect of the benefit of two or more cars which are made available concurrently to that employee or members of his or her family or household, the reduction for business travel at SE23302 only applies to the first car.

The “first car” is the car used to the greatest extent for the employee's business travel.

The full benefit charge of the second car is only reduced if the employee also used it for 18,000 business miles or more (or the proportional part - as at SE23304) - but the reduction then is only 1/3rd. (See example SE23312)

So the table at SE23302 is extended as follows to take account of second and subsequent cars.

Business Travel (Miles)Amount of reduction for first car
Amount of reduction for additional car(s)
Less than 2,500NilNil
2,500-17,9991/3Nil
18,000 or over2/31/3

Note that this rule applies irrespective of whether the two (or more) cars come from the same employer or from different employers.

In practice it will be very unusual to find an employee with two cars available at the same time, each of which that employee uses for at least 18,000 business miles in the year.