Fleet managers urged to work with tax experts to navigate changes

Fleet decision-makers need to work with both internal and external tax experts to effectively manage the ever-changing tax environment.

At the recent Fleet200 Strategy Network meeting at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, Peter Dobson, group head of tax at Amey, told attendees forthcoming changes included the benefit-in-kind tax for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and double-cab pick-up trucks.

“The role of the fleet manager is changing,” said Dobson. “It’s becoming more complex and you need new skills and new partnerships to be able to do things.

“This is why partnerships with the people in your organisation’s tax functions and outside advisors are so important.

“They can see through those rules and situations to provide you with the information that you need to make your job more efficient and effective.”

Dobson highlighted the tax changes faced by PHEVs, which will a double change. Firstly, changes to the BIK bands were announced in the October Budget, which raised the typical BIK rate of a PHEV to 18% from 2028/29.

A new emissions standard, known as Euro 6e-bis, applies to all newly-launched PHEVs from January 1, 2025, and to all models on sale from December 31.

This could see the WLTP CO2 rise significantly, with some estimates saying it could double or treble the current emissions figures.

“A lot of fleets have tried to do the right thing early on, getting very efficient vehicles to prepare for the future,” says Dobson.

“But the rules are changing. We don’t just look at the increased BIK, but there’s the national insurance contributions for the employer and employee to look at, and so on. It’s a different world now.”

He added: “Think about the disallowable VAT. It’s not all disallowable, but even the definition of VAT is different when you’re looking at a van or a car, when you charge a car from home, in the workplace, out on the road; expenses are different.

“Successful fleet management is now a collaboration with professional tax advisors. We work very closely with our fleet team, and the partnership works really well.”

He says fleet managers should also partner with other teams in their organisation for maximum effectiveness, such as the sustainability team for green reporting requirements, as well as the finance team.

“You need to keep doing so because in future policy development I guess we will be having conversations around increased emphasis on CO2 emissions, EV incentives, road user congestion charges, taxation by weight and distance, and so on,” he added.