Under the company car tax rules, a supplement applies to increase the appropriate percentage for diesel cars which fail to meet certain standards. The diesel supplement was increased from 3% to 4% from 6 April 2018 and now applies to cars that are not certified to Real Driving Emissions 2 (RDE2) standard. The supplement applies to cars that were registered on or after 1 January 1998 which have a registered Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions value is excess of that permitted by the RDE2 standard. It also applies to diesel models (not diesel hybrids) registered on or after 1 January 1998 which do not have a registered NOx value. The appropriate percentage is capped at 37% and the application of the supplement cannot take the appropriate percentage above this level.
It is all very well knowing about the diesel supplement, but how does one ascertain in practice whether a particular car has emissions meeting the RDE2 standard?
Diesel cars that meet Euro standard 6b satisfy the RDE2 standard and qualify for exemption from diesel supplement. For all cars manufactured after September 2018, the Vehicle Enquiry Service provides details of the Euro status of the car – simply go to the website and enter the car registration number. Cars with Euro status of 6AJ, 6AK, 6AM, 6AN, 6AP, 6AQ or 6AR meet Euro standard 6d and are exempt from the diesel supplement. Where the car was registered on or after 1 September 2018, this information is also shown on the vehicle registration document V5C.
For 2019/20 onwards, when reporting a car change on P46(Car) or the FPS, or payrolling a diesel car meeting Euro Standard 6b, fuel type F should be used (rather than fuel type A as previously).
Written by the Tax Advice Network