In my home country there's a special tax rule for company cars. If you use a company car privately you have to add 22% of the catalog price (when it was new) to your income. This 22% is taxed according to your tax bracket (43% - 52%). This is based on the idea that having the private use of a company car is a kind of income.
I understand that there's a similar system in the UK.
What's the situation in the US? I've googled around a bit but I couldn't find anything.
Ximinez
In the US, if you get a company car that is only used for company business, it is not taxable at all. An example of this would be a company vehicle that you leave at the employers location and do not drive home.
If you have personal use of a company car, then the portion of the vehicles cost attributable to personal use is treated as ordinary income and is taxable. Personal use includes driving it to and from work. As an example, if the company leased a car and the yearly cost is $4000 and you used it 20% for personal use, then you would pay federal income tax on $800. If it is partly used for personal use, you are also required to keep a log showing dates, miles driven, start point, end point, etc to document the amount of personal usage.
That's the same here. No private use, no tax.
OK, so the real cost (or a close estimation) are added to your income. That's a lot more reasonable (although I hate keeping logs) than using
22% of the catalog price. This is especially unpleasant in the cas eof an older car, since even for a 10 year old car you once bought for 25.000, you'd still be paying 43 to 52% over 5.500 yearly which adds up (keep in mind that road tax and gas taxes are high as well).When the car is older than 15 years, the 22% is calculated over the
*current market value* of the car. So now you understand why I'm driving an old MB. I could get used to it, though ;)Thanks for the info.
Ximinez
US tax code is very complex so any advice you get here may not fit all situations, one scenario that is fairly straightforward is if the car is used
100% for business and does not go home at night it isn't taxed to the user but to the company that owns it and with ownership there are many deductions that can lower any taxes that are applied, such as depreciation and maintenance.If the car is issued and can be used for both business and non business uses there can be a tax laibility, taxes vary depending on vehicle usage and unless a specific situation is cited it is difficult to answer.
A car, like any other item isn't taxable to the business, except for sales tax. It's an expense to the business, not income.
It's easy to answer. The amount attributable to personal use is regarded as income to the individual.
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