Drivers in the dark about tax

Three out of five drivers have no knowledge or only a basic grasp of the Government’s CO2-based company car tax.

Leasedrive conducted the research on behalf of a customer which was considering reviewing its manufacturer policy.

But when it asked about company car tax, 64% of the 200-plus drivers said they struggled to understand it.

In a separate survey, Leasedrive asked 450 drivers to rank nine vehicle characteristics in order of importance.

Twice as many drivers (29%) ranked safety as their number one priority when selecting a car than the vehicle’s tax band (14%) or economy (16%).

Meanwhile 41% ranked environmental performance as their least important consideration; 16% said it was a car’s benefit-in-kind tax band.

The failure of drivers to recognise the importance of the CO2-based tax regime when selecting a car, mirrors the ignorance displayed in the smaller survey.

However, the findings contradict anecdotal evidence from fleets, some of which also employ incentives schemes.

At a recent Fleet News roundtable, Geoff Wright, fleet services manager at AAH, said: “Our drivers are more focused on CO2 than they are the litre of the engine.”

And Tony Leigh, head of car fleet services at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said: “Our limit is 200g/km, but our order bank is just 121g/km. It’s self policing because company car drivers understand the BIK savings.”

Paul Tayor, fleet manager at Morgan Sindall, added: “Our drivers know more about BIK than we do.”