Commentary on Sections Example 3 £150(Pe) – £50(E) = £100 Section 152: Car fuel: proportionate reduction of cash equivalent
590.This section provides for a proportionate reduction in the cash equivalent of the fuel benefit for particular circumstances, which may apply during part of a tax year. This section derives from section 158(5), (6A), (6B), and (8) of ICTA.
591.Subsection (1) applies when the car for which the fuel is provided is unavailable.
592.Subsection (2) covers circumstances where the fuel is not available for private use or its cost has to be and is reimbursed by the employee.
593.Subsection (3) is to prevent unintended advantage being obtained from the legislation by repeated changes in the circumstances that apply to the provision of the fuel.
594.Subsection (4) gives a formula to calculate the reduced cash equivalent. The formula uses “Y”, defined as “the number of days in the tax year in question”, instead of the fixed figure of “365” in the source legislation. That copes automatically with leap years. See item A of Change 28 in Annex 1.