Vehicles available for director's private use are not pool cars

In Alexander Jubb v HMRC [2015] UKFTT TC04760 the First Tier Tribunal confirmed that cars available for the private use of a director and kept overnight at his residence were not pool cars.

  • Mr Jubb’s P11D for 2008/09 included car and fuel benefits in respect of a BMW up to 31 July 2008 and a Jaguar from 1 August 2008.  These benefits were omitted from his 2008/09 Tax Return.
  • HMRC assessed the benefit and imposed a minimum penalty for careless error of 15%.

Mr Jubb asserting that the cars were not pool cars, he claimed that:

  • The P11D had been completed incorrectly by a temporary accountant and he did not recall having seen a copy.
  • He accepted that the BMW had been correctly included on previous P11Ds as he had used it privately having no access to any other cars.
  • Both cars were used by other employees.
  • The company was in terminal decline during 2008/09 and owned about fourteen cars which were pooled to save money.
  • He argued that there was no evidence that the cars were not used as pool cars.

The tribunal established that:

  • The cars were kept at Mr Jubb’s house until October 2008.
  • Mr Jubb was not prohibited from using the cars privately.

Decision

The burden of proof was on Mr Jubb to show why the assessment to tax was incorrect, and he had not done so. 

  • The definition of a pool car is quite specific. Although the car was used by other employees and the director had access to another car for private use, both cars were normally kept at his residence overnight and his private use was not prohibited nor was it incidental.  
  • The Tax Return was therefore incorrect and the omission of the benefits from his Return was careless.  
  • The appeal against the closure notice and the penalty was dismissed.

Comment and links

Yet another case on pool cars: if you are claiming that cars are pool cars you must have robust systems in place. For detail of the tax requirement for pool cars and the legislation at s167 ITEPA 2003 see our Practical Tax Guide: Pool cars.

For the case summary see Alexander Jubb v HMRC [2015] UKFTT TC04760