BIK rates 2019 - BIK Tax Bands UK

For the first time, the UK Government has failed to pre-announce company car BIK rates for at least three years in advance. While BIK rates have been announced for financial years 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, the rates for 2021-2022 are not currently known.

Given that most vehicle financial planning is conducted over at least three years, Next Green Car has therefore made the assumption that the BIK rates for 2020-2021 will continue unchanged in the period 2021-2022. While this is far from an ideal situation, this at least enables forward planning through the use of our company car tax and car comparison tools.

As soon as official BIK rates for 2021-22 are published, Next Green Car will update the site and tools to reflect the actual figures. However, these may not become available until the publication of the new official CO2 figures (based on the WLTP test cycle) due in April 2020.

Company car tax rates are designed to encourage company car drivers to choose cars with lower levels of CO2 and (from April 2018) NOx emissions; incentives are offered both to the company and to the recipient of the vehicle to select low emission vehicles.

Under the current system, company and employee company car tax are both based on a percentage of the official value of the car (called the 'P11D'), the percentage being primarily determined by the car's CO2 emissions. For the employee, the Benefit-in-Kind (BIK) is then taxed at the appropriate personal tax rate - usually collected through PAYE.

Company car tax payable by an employee is based on the vehicle's P11D value multiplied by the appropriate BIK rate (determined by the car's CO2 and fuel type) and the employee's income tax rate (basic rate of 20%, higher rate of 40% or additional rate of 45%).

Current company car BIK rates start at 22% for petrol and RDE2 compliant diesel cars, the rate increasing in up to 1% increments as CO2 bands rise, up to a maximum of 37%. From 06 April 2018, to account for the greater level of NOx emissions, a 4% diesel car tax supplement is payable which applies for non-RDE2 compliant diesels, the vast majority of current diesel models.

All hybrid cars receive a reduced BIK rate as a result of their lower CO2 emissions, which tends to reduce their BIK rates by at least 2%. Note that for diesel hybrids, the 4% diesel surcharge does not apply, since they are not classed as diesel-powered cars, but alternatively fuelled vehicles for tax purposes.

Electric vehicles are also rewarded with lower BIK rates with battery electric cars BIK-rated at 16% for FY 2019/20, reducing to only 2% during 2020/21. From April 2019, plug-in hybrids with CO2 emissions up to 75 g/km are BIK-rated at 16% to 19% (depending on CO2 emissions), with rates decreasing slightly in FY 2020/21 for the lowest CO2 models.

From April 2020, new BIK bands come into force for plug-in models with CO2 emissions of 1-50 g/km, with the new BIK levels dependent on the official electric-only range in miles. Those with a range in excess of 130 miles are classed as pure-electric models for the purposes of BIK ratings (at 2%) , while those plug-in models with a range of less than 30 miles will be rated at 14%.

The table below shows how the percentage BIK rates vary with vehicle CO2 and electric-only range. The table represents petrol, diesel and electric related BIK rates for 2019-2022. Note that, due to no official rates being available, the figures assumes BIK rates for 2021-2022 are same as for 2020-2021. The values shown in the table for 2021-2022 are therefore only an estimate and should be treated accordingly.

Vehicle CO2 (g/km)	Electric range (miles)	FY 2019-20 %BIK Rate		FY 2020-21 %BIK Rate		FY 2021-22* %BIK Rate (estimated)
Company Car Tax BIK Rates April 2019 to March 2022
Table assumes BIK rates for 2021-2022 are same as for 2020-2021. The values shown for 2021-2022 are therefore only an estimate and should be treated accordingly.
Vehicle CO2 (g/km)	Electric range (miles)	Petrol, Electric, RDE2 Diesel**	Non- RDE2 Diesel**	Petrol, Electric, RDE2 Diesel**	Non- RDE2 Diesel**	Petrol, Electric, RDE2 Diesel**	Non- RDE2 Diesel**
0		16		2		2*
1-50	130+	16		2		2*
1-50	70-129	16		5		5*
1-50	40-69	16		8		8*
1-50	30-39	16		12		12*
1-50	<30	16		14		14*
51-54		19		15		15*
55-59		19		16		16*
60-64		19		17		17*
65-69		19		18		18*
70-74		19		19		19*
75		19		20		20*
76-79		22	26	20	24	20*	24*
80-84		22	26	21	25	21*	25*
85-89		22	26	22	26	22*	26*
90-94		22	26	23	27	23*	27*
95-99		23	27	24	28	24*	28*
100-104		24	28	25	29	25*	29*
105-109		25	29	26	30	26*	30*
110-114		26	30	27	31	27*	31*
115-119		27	31	28	32	28*	32*
120-124		28	32	29	33	29*	33*
125-129		29	33	30	34	30*	34*
130-134		30	34	31	35	31*	35*
135-139		31	35	32	36	32*	36*
140-144		32	36	33	37	33*	37*
145-149		33	37	34	37	34*	37*
150-154		34	37	35	37	35*	37*
155-159		35	37	36	37	36*	37*
160-164		36	37	37	37	37*	37*
165-169		37	37	37	37	37*	37*
170-174		37	37	37	37	37*	37*
175-179		37	37	37	37	37*	37*
180-184		37	37	37	37	37*	37*
185+		37	37	37	37	37*	37*

* Table assumes BIK rates for 2021-2022 are same as for 2020-2021. The values shown for 2021-2022 are therefore only an estimate and should be treated accordingly. See above for more information.

** Rate applies to diesel vehicles not meeting the RDE2 standard. For diesel-hybrids, the Non-RDE2 4% diesel surcharge does not apply. All BIK rates apply to cars registered since 1998. Source: HMRC 2018.

From April 2018, HM Treasury levies a 4% diesel supplement over petrol models to account for greater levels of NOx emissions for the most current diesel cars. The supplement applies to diesel cars not compliant with the Real Driving Emissions Step 2 (RDE2) test, which confirms that real-world emissions are close to, or better than, the Euro 6 emissions standards for NOx.

The RDE2 test was developed in response to the Volkswagen emissions scandal and other subsequent research which shows that even the latest Euro 6 models are associated with higher NOx emissions when driven on real roads as compared to the official test which is conducted on a rolling-road in a laboratory.

As of the start of 2018, no diesel models have yet passed the RDE2 test as the procedure itself is under final review. However, new diesel models are expected to be submitted to the test from April 2018. As RDE2 compliant models become available on the UK market, Next Green Car's tax calculators will automatically remove the 4% supplement where applicable.

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