Benefits in kind statistics: September 2020
These statistics provide information about the company cars provided as benefits in kind to employees by employers.
Documents
Details
What does this publication tell me?
This publication contains a series of tables about the company cars provided as benefits in kind to employees by employers. These tables show the number of recipients of such benefits, the taxable value of the benefits and the Income Tax and National Insurance contributions (NIC) liabilities on them. Breakdowns are provided by income level of the recipient and by the Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emission level and fuel type of the vehicle.
Company car statistics are provided for 2017 to 2018 alongside earlier years. Provisional information for 2018 to 2019 has also been included in this publication.
Figures are based on two sources of data on company cars:
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P11D forms returned by employers after the end of the tax year
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company cars reported by employers in Real-Time Information submissions (from tax year 2017 to 2018 onwards)
Company cars with zero tax liability (for example when an employee’s contribution reduces the taxable benefit to zero), are not included in these tables. Nor do the tables include cars belonging to companies which are not made available for employees’ private use. Individuals interested in the number of cars registered to companies (and not necessarily liable to tax) may wish to use the Department for Transport’s Vehicle Licensing Statistics.
These statistics are produced annually.
The background documentation provides further details of the tax and National Insurance treatment of company cars, describes the data sources and modelling and projection methods and describes the completeness and accuracy of the data used.
Changes to this publication
Previous versions of this publication have covered the full range of taxable benefits in kind, based on information provided to HMRC by employers through P11D forms.
In last year’s publication we advised users that the growing incompleteness in the data caused by voluntary payrolling was affecting the viability of this series of statistics.
As of April 2016, employers who register for voluntary payrolling of benefits in kind no longer have to report them to HMRC on P11D forms. Where the benefit in question is a company car it still has to be reported to HMRC in Real-Time Information (RTI) submissions, but there is no corresponding reporting obligation for other benefits in kind. In last year’s publication we advised users that the growing incompleteness in the data caused by voluntary payrolling was affecting the viability of this series of statistics.
After a review we have concluded that from now on this publication should report only company cars, in respect of which a full reporting requirement to HMRC still exists.
Previous versions of these statistics were designated as National Statistics. As of this publication the statistics have been reclassified as Experimental Statistics. The new designation is intended to represent the fact that these statistics now draw on new data sources, that the methodology for using this data is still being tested and remains subject to modification and further evaluation.
A user engagement exercise has also been opened to better understand how the removal of non-company car benefits from these statistics will affect users, and to seek suggestions on how these statistics can be improved.
User engagement
HMRC is committed to providing impartial quality statistics that meet users’ needs. We encourage our users to engage with us so we can improve our official statistics and identify gaps in them. If you would like to comment on these statistics or have any questions on them please contact the statistical contact named at the end of this section.
Alongside this publication we are undertaking a user engagement exercise to gather comments on the restriction to company cars and also ideas on how the tables could be improved. The closing date for comments is 31st December 2020.
We undertake to review user comments on a regular basis and use this information to influence the development of our official statistics. We will summarise and publish user comments at regular intervals.
The published statistics will be revised only if an error is discovered in the survey data or modelling. Projections will be revised at each publication until full administrative data for that year are available.
Statistical contacts
Enquiries about statistics on taxable benefits in kind and expenses should be directed to the statistician responsible for these statistics:
Jon Aldous
Email: Jon.Aldous@hmrc.gov.uk
Matthew Yau
Email: Matthew.Yau@hmrc.gov.uk
Lucy Rabone
Email: Lucy.Rabone@hmrc.gov.uk
Knowledge, Analysis and Intelligence
HM Revenue and Customs
100 Parliament Street
London
SW1A 2BQ
Any media enquiries should be directed to the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Press Office.
HMRC Press Office (Individuals)
- 03000 585 024