MORE than 85% of fleet managers want the current company car tax regime to change, and more than one third believe a benefit-in-kind tax based on a driver's private miles rather than business miles would be the fairest levy.

A Fleet News/Autoglass survey of 355 fleet decision-makers has revealed that 38.3% would support a benefit-in-kind tax based on private mileage, 25.6% thought a tax on total annual mileage would be the fairest option, and 17.5% backed a tax based on engine size. Only 14.4% supported a continuation of the current BIK tax system.

Chancellor Gordon Brown confirmed in the Budget that the present 2,500 and 18,000 business mileage tax breaks were under review, with particular attention being paid to a switch to incentivise lower private miles. But whatever the foundations of the tax regime, fleet managers are convinced their drivers will want to keep their company cars.

More than 90% of those surveyed said they would expect no more than one fifth of their drivers to wave goodbye to their company cars in the light of tax changes, and nearly 70% estimated the figure would be below 10%.