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Estimate whether a company car salary sacrifice could be more cost-effective than taking cash and using a personal lease.
Showing an on-page estimate while saved salary data loads.
£0–£1,000,000 per year.
£0–£1,000,000.
£0–£50,000 per year.
Choose the plan shown by your Student Loans Company account.
Whole-number rate, 4–37%.
£0–£1,000,000 per year.
Share employer NI saving
Include the modelled salary-related employer NI share.
Each £1 of sacrificed salary saves you 28% in combined tax + NI.
Estimated annual amount after the personal lease versus company car; company-car value includes a potential employer NI share when selected
| Measure | Annual amount |
|---|---|
| Cash option after personal lease | £32,319.60 |
| Salary sacrifice scenario | £35,819.60 |
Employee-side tax and contribution differences; the optional salary-related Class 1 NI pass-through excludes Class 1A on the car benefit and employer allowances.
| Measure | Annual amount |
|---|---|
| Income Tax saved | £1,200.00 |
| Employee NI saved | £480.00 |
| Student-loan repayments saved | £0.00 |
| Potential salary-related Class 1 NI reduction (before Class 1A/allowances) | £900.00 |
Taxable benefit and estimated extra Income Tax using the selected 4.0% rate
| Measure | Annual amount |
|---|---|
| Taxable benefit (P11D × selected BIK %) | £1,400.00 |
| Estimated additional Income Tax on benefit | £280.00 |
Reduction in annual deductions from the sacrificed portion of your salary.
| Measure | Cash / lease | Salary sacrifice |
|---|---|---|
| Estimated cash-option take-home pay | £39,520 | — |
| Cash take-home after personal lease | £32,320 | — |
| Estimated company-car disposable amount (includes selected NI share) | — | £35,820 |
| Estimated BIK tax (already deducted above) | — | £280 |
| Estimated effective car cost | £3,700 | — |
Projected BIK tax for zero-emission cars in future tax years. These are based on announced HMRC rates.
| Tax year | BIK rate | BIK value | Monthly tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026/2027 (current) | 4% | £1,400 | £23 |
| 2027/2028 | 5% | £1,750 | £29 |
| 2028/2029 | 7% | £2,450 | £41 |
| 2029/2030 | 9% | £3,150 | £53 |
If the same combined marginal rate of 28% applied throughout, an extra £1,000 sacrifice would change take-home pay by about £720. This is a simple illustration, not a recalculated quote; tax bands, National Insurance and student-loan thresholds may be crossed.
Sacrificing £6,000 leaves contractual gross pay of about £44,000. Your employer must check the applicable minimum-wage rules and whether reduced contractual salary affects pension, statutory pay or other benefits.
Based on these inputs, salary sacrifice may be more cost-effective than a personal lease or taking the cash. The selected company-car BIK percentage is 4% for the 2026/27 tax year. Each £1 of sacrificed salary saves you approximately 28% in tax.
A salary sacrifice reduces your contractual gross pay. This lowers the income tax and employee National Insurance due on your payslip. The exact saving depends on your tax band and the part of your income affected. The higher your marginal rate, the more you save.
A company car is a taxable benefit. The BIK value is based on the car's P11D value and a percentage determined by CO₂ emissions. For EVs this percentage is low (currently 4% in 2026/27, rising to 9% by 2029/30), making them more tax-efficient.
Salary sacrifice can reduce an employer’s Class 1 NI where it lowers pay above the applicable threshold; the saving is not 15% of every sacrificed pound. Some schemes share part of that salary-related reduction with you. This estimate passes through the modelled reduction in full when selected, before Class 1A on the car benefit and employer allowances. Toggle "Share employer NI saving" to include or exclude that assumption.
Try a range of personal lease costs to see where the decision flips. If your scheme includes insurance, maintenance, and roadside assistance, your effective lease comparison may be higher than a standalone car lease.
BIK rates change annually. For EVs, the rate rises from 4% (2026/27) to 9% (2029/30). Use the BIK forecast table below to see how future rate changes could affect your monthly tax bill.
Salary sacrifice can affect other calculations that use gross pay, such as employer benefits, borrowing affordability, or statutory pay thresholds. It also cannot reduce pay below the National Minimum Wage.
Use the car’s P11D value from your employer or vehicle documents; it is the list-price basis for company-car tax, not the salary sacrifice amount. Enter the appropriate BIK percentage from employer records or the HMRC table; the rate cannot be reliably inferred from CO₂ alone. Enter the annual net-pay cost of a comparable personal lease. Salary sacrifice can also reduce student-loan repayments, modelled using the selected plan’s applicable rate.
Estimate whether a company car salary sacrifice could be more cost-effective than taking cash and using a personal lease, including a BIK tax estimate.
The result heading is marked “Editable sample” while the default example is active. Valid salary, P11D value, sacrifice, BIK rate, lease cost, employer-NI sharing, tax-year and student-loan values in the URL take priority; a saved salary is used only when functional storage is enabled and the link does not specify salary. Other inputs fall back to the documented example. User edits update the shareable URL.
The estimate compares annual disposable amounts after the entered personal lease, estimated BIK Income Tax, Income Tax, National Insurance and student-loan differences, plus a selected share of the salary-related Class 1 NI reduction. This optional pass-through is modelled in full and does not subtract Class 1A on the car benefit or account for Employment Allowance or employer-specific exemptions; it is not a forecast of the employer’s net NI change or what a scheme will share. Use the exact chart tables and comparison summary to inspect the amounts; a positive headline is the modelled difference between the two entered options, not a guaranteed saving.
This model does not apply the Optional Remuneration Arrangement (OpRA) higher-of test. For a car subject to OpRA, the taxable benefit can be the higher of the normal company-car benefit and salary given up; do not rely on this result if that rule applies—confirm with payroll or HMRC. The UK tax model covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland using rUK Income Tax bands. Scotland Income Tax bands, vehicle availability dates, employee contributions, pension changes, lease inclusions, employer scheme terms and every payroll rule are not modelled. Enter the vehicle’s appropriate BIK rate from employer records or HMRC; it cannot be reliably inferred from CO₂ alone.
These GOV.UK and HMRC sources support the company-car Benefit-in-Kind, salary-sacrifice and National Insurance explanations. The calculator remains an employer-scheme estimate.