We know that by the end of March 2021, the number of company cars in the UK, as reported by HMRC, had declined 10% year on year to around 720k units. We also know that the total company car tax and NIC take fell to £2.1bn (having peaked at £2.5bn). Over the years, HRUX has suggested rising tax rates were pushing people out of company cars. But by March 2021 I’d speculate the tide was turning, and 720k may be the low point as employees take advantage of historically low tax rates for EVs and PHEVs.
At the end of March 2021 there were just under 504k “plug-ins” registered on UK roads (161.9k EV and 264.9k PHEV). By the end of September 2022 this total had doubled. And, as our graph below shows, EVs represent the bulk of that difference.
So how many company cars are now EV? And where does this leave company car tax rates moving forwards from April 2025?