Solidarity contributions on company cars - The NOSS makes a distinction between utility vehicles and other vehicles with respect to the notion of 'home-to-work travel'.
In its latest version of its instructions for employers, the NOSS states that home-to-work travel undertaken using a utility vehicle cannot be considered as 'home-to-work travel' for the purposes of the solidarity contribution on company cars. A utility vehicle is a vehicle which is, from a fiscal point of view, a light-duty vehicle.
The solidarity contribution on company cars has to be paid when the employee can use the car which is at his disposal, for purposes other than those of a professional nature. The NOSS enjoys a statutory rebuttable presumption of private use. The home-to-work commute is considered to be a private journey. From the moment the employee has the right to use his company car for such journey, the solidarity contribution has to be paid.
Recently, the NOSS confirmed that there is no home-to-work travel when the employee does not have a 'fixed work place' (see our Newsflash of 22 May 2014). The employee is considered to have a 'fixed work place' if he takes the car for 40 days (whether consecutive or not) per annum to go to the same place.
Now, the NOSS stipulates in its instructions for employers for the first time that a journey from the residence of the employee to the work place using a utility vehicle is not considered to be home-to-work travel, not even when the employee has a fixed work place. This means that for utility vehicles, the 40-day rule is not applicable. With respect to the notion of 'utility vehicle', the NOSS refers to the vehicles which are qualified as light-duty vehicles by the tax authorities.
In order to not have to pay the solidarity contributions, other private use of the company car (for example during weekends) must be prohibited.
> Action point
It can be useful to keep this new point of view of the NSSO in mind before buying new company cars. For the solidarity tax on company cars, home-to-work travel does not exist when a utility vehicle is being used.