Removal of Covid-19 BIK Concessionary Measures on Company Cars
Where an employee retained personal use of a company car during the Covid-19 pandemic and business mileage was limited or reduced, employers were permitted to calculate the BIK based on the business mileage undertaken by the employee in January 2020.
Where an employee did not have any business mileage in the current role in January 2020, a reasonable alternative should be used to calculate the annual business mileage. This concession applied during 2020 and 2021. For 2022, the concession only applies for the period of time during which public health guidance requires employees to work from home.
Similarly, special rules apply to the provision of company cars to employees in the motor industry. The rules usually only apply where the employee uses the same car for a period of up to 1 month. On a concessional basis, Revenue permitted employers in the motor industry to continue using the special rules where employees were unable to change their car within the required timeframe due to the pandemic.
As the public health guidance to work from home was removed on 24 January 2022, Revenue previously advised that BIK on company cars should be calculated in the normal manner since that date, regardless of whether the employee returns to the office or continues to work remotely. Revenue has recently updated its guidelines to say that these concessionary measures on company cars will cease to apply from 1 June 2022.