Income Tax

Employer-Provided Car Perquisite: ₹1,800, ₹2,400 and Chauffeur Rules

CA Nikhil Gupta·Aug 2026·7 min readIncome Tax

For mixed official/personal use where the employer owns the car and pays running costs, the taxable monthly value is ₹1,800 for engine capacity up to 1.6…

For mixed official/personal use where the employer owns the car and pays running costs, the taxable monthly value is ₹1,800 for engine capacity up to 1.6 litres or ₹2,400 above 1.6 litres, plus ₹900 for a chauffeur.

Legal or Computational Framework

Governing rule

Official-only use can be nil with prescribed records; personal-only use uses actual employer cost/hire, chauffeur and 10% wear-and-tear less recovery. Employee-paid running costs use lower mixed-use values.

Correct calculation method

Identify ownership, engine size, payer of running cost, use category and chauffeur; maintain logbook/certificate for official use; subtract employee recovery where permitted.

Step-by-step workflow

  1. Identify ownership, engine size, payer of running cost, use category and chauffeur.
  2. maintain logbook/certificate for official use.
  3. subtract employee recovery where permitted.
  4. Reconcile the input with official statements and supporting records.
  5. Calculate both legal eligibility and final tax impact.
  6. Record the effective date and review trigger.

Worked example

A 2-litre employer-owned car with employer-paid costs and chauffeur used partly personally gives ₹3,300 per month taxable perquisite.

The example is an illustration, not a substitute for the taxpayer's facts. A change in status, period, payment mode, document, city, asset, relationship or scheme can change the result.

Why generic pages get this wrong

Search pages often state a rate or limit without identifying the governing base. The calculation must distinguish gross receipt from taxable profit, tax from TDS, a deduction from an exemption, salary from business income, and an accounting entry from the tax treatment.

Decision matrix

Decision pointRequired treatment
Legal yearUse the Act, rules and notification effective for the income or transaction period
Taxpayer categoryConfirm residence, age, entity, employee/business status and regime
Calculation baseUse the statutory definition rather than CTC, net bank receipt or accounting label
Ceiling or rateApply actual-amount, percentage, shared, lifetime and gross-income limits in sequence
DocumentationLink every input to an invoice, statement, contract, certificate or official record
Final outputShow tax, surcharge, cess, interest and TDS/TCS credits separately

Entity and topical coverage

This page is written around the entities and concepts search engines expect for the topic: Rule 3, perquisite, rent-free accommodation, company car, salary. They are used only where relevant and are connected to the live calculator and knowledge hub rather than repeated mechanically.

What Generic Pages Miss

  • Using annual salary instead of occupancy-period salary.
  • Using obsolete perquisite rates.
  • Ignoring employee recovery.
  • Omitting furniture.
  • Calling reimbursement exempt without evidence.

Practical Documentation Checklist

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For the complete rules on this topic, see the core guide: Perquisites Taxation: Rent-Free Accommodation, Company Car & Other Benefits.

See the broader Income Tax & Salary knowledge hub for related rules and calculators on this topic.

Finin2min Summary

For mixed official/personal use where the employer owns the car and pays running costs, the taxable monthly value is ₹1,800 for engine capacity up to 1.6 litres or ₹2,400 above 1.6 litres, plus ₹900 for a chauffeur.

Finin2min rule: establish eligibility, calculate transparently, and preserve an audit trail.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the direct answer for “company car perquisite tax calculation”?
For mixed official/personal use where the employer owns the car and pays running costs, the taxable monthly value is ₹1,800 for engine capacity up to 1.6 litres or ₹2,400 above 1.6 litres, plus ₹900 for a chauffeur.
Which law and tax period apply?
Official-only use can be nil with prescribed records; personal-only use uses actual employer cost/hire, chauffeur and 10% wear-and-tear less recovery. Employee-paid running costs use lower mixed-use values. Tax Year 2026–27 uses the Income-tax Act, 2025; AY 2026–27 remains under the 1961 Act.
How should the amount be calculated?
Identify ownership, engine size, payer of running cost, use category and chauffeur; maintain logbook/certificate for official use; subtract employee recovery where permitted.
What does the worked example show?
A 2-litre employer-owned car with employer-paid costs and chauffeur used partly personally gives ₹3,300 per month taxable perquisite.
Which documents should be kept?
Keep employment/lease agreement, salary definition working, occupancy dates, employee rent recovery. The calculation should be reproducible from these records.
What is the most common mistake?
The most common errors are using annual salary instead of occupancy-period salary and using obsolete perquisite rates.

Source and review trail

Use the current official instrument, portal or regulator publication before acting. This panel separates the category authority from page-specific references.

Primary category
Income Tax
Official starting point
www.incometax.gov.in
Editorial review date
2026-08-02
Content status
Finin2min explanation; official source controls where facts, law, rates, forms or procedures can change.

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