§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is his estimate of the number and value of new cars leased or sold in the United Kingdom in 1988 and 1989 to date together with his estimate of the proportion (i) imported and (ii) paid for directly as a business expense; and what proportion of the real cost of owning a comparable car is now added to the income of employees for tax purposes.
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§ Mr. AtkinsFrom January 1988 to the end of June 1989, 3.5 million new cars were registered in the United Kingdom. Of those registered in Great Britain, 54 per cent. were imported and 52 per cent. were registered in the name of a company.
The benefit of a company car provided for a director or employee earning £8,500 a year or more is taxed by reference to a set of scale charges. Both the scale charge applicable to a particular company car and the cost of owning a comparable car depend on a number of factors. The proportion of the cost of private ownership represented by the scale charge will therefore vary from case to case.
Information on the value of these cars is not available.