Company car made available to an employee with a disability
May 2022 – In the FAQ (frequently asked questions) concerning the calculation of the benefit in kind related to company cars, the tax authorities have devoted a question/answer to company cars adapted to an employee's disability. An update was published in mid-March.
The catalog value
As such, the advantage linked to the provision of a company car adapted to an employee's physical handicap is calculated in exactly the same way as for a standard vehicle: a CO2 percentage must be applied to 6/7th of the catalog value. The result is adjusted according to the age of the vehicle.
The tax authorities define the catalog value as the catalog price of the vehicle when sold new to a private individual, including options and value-added tax actually paid, without taking into account any discounts, reductions, rebates or discounts.
FAQ
If applied strictly, this rule would imply higher taxation for a worker with a disability than for a worker without a disability, given the high cost of the adaptations that need to be made to the car. In order to remedy this situation, the tax authorities had already decreed in their 2012 FAQs that - under certain conditions - no account would be taken of the additional costs incurred to adapt the vehicle.
Specifically, it had to be (and still is) a company car that was adapted or converted to suit the physical limitations of the employee. The additional costs incurred for this purpose will not be taken into account for the calculation of the catalogue value, provided that these adaptations or conversions are not made available to beneficiaries who do not have physical impairments.
For example, the higher value of a vehicle equipped with an automatic gearbox cannot be excluded from the calculation basis, as this option is also available to people without physical disabilities.
However, the replacement of the gas pedal, brake and clutch pedals with a steering wheel system will not be added to the catalogue value.
Additional costs must be listed separately on the invoice.
Circular: why an update?
The tax authorities note that in some cases the car provided, due to a physical impediment, is of a higher category than an employee without a disability would be entitled to under the company car policy. Since wheelchairs generally do not fit in a small company car, the employer must provide a larger model.
In such cases, the tax authorities now allow the benefit in kind to be determined on the basis of a fictitious company car that the employee would have chosen with the budget to which he or she would have been entitled, according to the company car policy, without this physical impediment.
As is often the case, a clear car policy is extremely important in this context as well.
