Monetary benefit from personal use of a company car

If an employee pays a usage fee to their employer for the private use of a company vehicle, this reduces the value of the monetary benefit derived from the use of the vehicle.

An employee drove a company car, which he also used for personal trips and for commuting between his home and workplace. He kept a logbook for this purpose. The employer calculated the monetary benefit of the vehicle use according to the 1% rule stipulated by law, and for trips between home and work according to the 0.03% rule, both based on the vehicle’s list price. This resulted in a monetary benefit of €8,554.32. For the private use of the vehicle, he paid his employer an annual usage fee equivalent to €6,033.72, resulting in a net taxable amount of €2,520.60.

Employee Calculated Differently

The employee calculated his income tax differently and determined the monetary benefit of his vehicle use based on a logbook. To do this, he calculated the percentage of his private trips and applied this to the total cost of the vehicle. He claimed the resulting value of his private use, €6,981.49, as income-related expenses. However, the tax office only allowed a deduction up to the amount of the taxed balance (€2,520.60). According to the most recent ruling by the Federal Fiscal Court, this approach was also correct.