SE23802 - Pooled cars and vans: "de minimis" private use

Statement of Practice 2/1996

This Statement of practice mainly restated and explained our views on the implications of the second condition in SE23800. Private use which is not merely incidental to business use should in practice be ignored in deciding whether the vehicle comes under the protection of Section 159 where such private use is

• small in extent and infrequent, and
• consists of either or both of

“Small in extent and infrequent” will generally be not more than 5 per cent of the vehicle's annual mileage on occasions which are neither regular nor protracted.

“Use meeting the immediate need for transport in an emergency where the use of the vehicle is provided on compassionate grounds” covers the kind of case where an employee is taken ill at work or learns at work that a member of his or her family has been involved in an accident. It does not cover the kind of case where an employee's normal vehicle breaks down and the “pool” vehicle is used as a substitute.

“Use for the purposes of the provision of another benefit which does not itself give rise to a tax charge where the use of the vehicle is merely incidental to the provision of that other benefit” might apply in a number of different situations. One example would be the use of a pool vehicle to take employee-provided equipment such as a table tennis table to an employer-provided sports facility. (Subject to various conditions, employer provided recreational facilities do not give rise to a tax charge.)