Law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has added a salary sacrifice arrangement around cars to its flexible benefits plan to enable more of its 1,800 staff to have access to a company car.
Through the salary sacrifice car scheme, provided by Tusker, staff can save up to 40% on income tax and up to 11% on national insurance on the cost of renting a car. They will have to pay benefit-in-kind tax on the value of the car, but at a rate of 10% for cars emitting less than 120g/km of CO2 . The cars cost between £120 and £450 a month to rent and include Audi A3 and BMW models that emit less than 120g/km.
To take up the scheme, employees log on to a special portal where they can view the models available and compare specifications, tax charges, carbon emissions and monthly rentals.
In the first two weeks after the benefit was launched in July, 10 orders were made for Freshfields staff. Adam Brooke, employee benefits manager at the law firm, said: "This has opened up the possibility of having a company car to all levels of staff and there has been a very enthusiastic response from those who have taken this benefit so far. We expect the scheme to grow as word spreads, especially when staff realise the monthly rental cost covers all insurance, breakdown, maintenance costs and tyres."
