Q. I have just received my renewal pack for claiming working tax credits, but the income figure for 2013/14 doesn't agree with my P60 form and payslips from my employer - by a wide margin. What's gone wrong and what should I do?

A. The difference between the figures could be due to any of the following;

- Where you have more than one source of income (perhaps a redundancy payment from a previous employment) your tax credits renewal notice will show the total from all the sources that you received inc ome from in 2013/14.
- Your pay shown on the P60 may have been corrected at a later stage after the Tax Credits Office extracted the figures used for the renewal notice.
- Your income counted for tax credits includes the value of certain benefits in kind such as the provision of a company car, which isn't included in the amounts reported on the form P60 or on payslips. The value of those benefits will be reported on a form P11D which you should receive by 6 July.

If you believe the tax credits income figure for 2013/14 is wrong ring the number given in the renewal pack and report the correct figure.

Q. If my employer leases a car to me at the fair market value for such a lease, which I pay in full to the employing company, will I be taxed as if I had the use of a company car with no lease?

A. The law that taxes company cars was recently changed to ensure employees are always taxed on the provision of a company car, irrespective of how that car is provided. So although you lease the car from your employer you will still be subject to the benefit in kind charge, which is calculated as a percentage of the vehicle's list price when new. The percentage varies from 0% to 35% depending on the vehicle's CO2 emissions. Any amounts you pay to your employer for the personal use of the car reduce the benefit in kind charge, but you will not be better off using the leasing arrangement.

Q. I run my own consulting company in the UK, which pays my Brazilian wife a small wage for answering the phone and preparing marketing materials. Can the company pay for her to complete an advanced English course at the local college?

A. Training for any employee can be charged through the company if it is relevant to the employee's duties or future duties. An ability to speak and write correct English is necessary for your business so the proposed English course is work-related training for your employee. Your company can pay for the course, and receive a tax deduction for that cost. There will be no benefit in kind charge for your wife. The company can also pay for travel to the course. You should list the duties your wife performs for the company, and both sign the document as part of her employment terms with the company. This description of her duties will justify the training cost, should the Taxman ever ask.

Q. The Christmas feasting has taken its toll on the waistlines of everyone in our company. Can I give the workforce a boost by having the company pay for gym membership for me and all my staff?

A. A company may provide sports or recreational facilities for its workforce, but unless those facilities are used mainly by current and former employees with exclusion of the general public, there will be a benefit in kind tax charge for the employees and the company. A membership for a gym open to any paying member from the general public would be taxed as a benefit for employees, the taxable value being the cost to the company of providing that membership.

Q. My company is doing well and I'd like a new car, possibly a BMW series 5. Should the company lease or buy this car, or does it make more sense for me to take a dividend from the company and to buy the car personally?

A. As the car is available to you for personal journeys you will be taxed on the 'benefit' of driving that car giving rise each year to a tax bill for yourself and a NI bill for your company at 13.8%.

The company will get a deduction against profits for the cost of leasing the car, but that deduction is limited if the car has CO2 emissions over 160g/km (reducing to 135g/km from April 2013). Likewise the capital allowances are restricted for cars with CO2 emissions over 160g/km. The company can pay for the car's insurance, servicing and repairs, with no further cost to you, the driver. However, if fuel is provided there is an additional benefit in kind to be taxed on you.

In reality the calculations need to take into account other factors such as the cost of insurance and whether you need to borrow money to buy the car. We need to talk about this in greater detail to provide you with the correct advice.

Q. The company provides the sales reps with pay-as-you-go mobile phones, who purchase top-ups when they need them, claiming the cost back on expenses. Does the cost of the top-ups need to be included on the forms P11D for those employees? Does it make a difference if the employee bought the pay-as-you-go phone?

A. Where the mobile phone is owned by the company and the contract is between the company and the telecoms provider, any top-ups purchased for that phone are tax free, as the provision of the phone is tax free. The cost of the vouchers does not have to be reported on the form P11D for each employee. Note this tax free treatment only applies to one phone per employee.

If the phone was bought by, and thus owned by the employee, the top-up vouchers are taxable and need to be reported on the form P11D. The employee could claim a deduction on their tax return for the cost of business calls made with the top-up payments, but this would involve analysing all the calls made into business and non-business calls.

How will the increase to car benefit affect my employees?

Q. I try to run my business on green principles so all the company cars are hybrid petrol/electric models. But I've heard that the car benefit is going to increase for all these cars from April, how is this going to affect my employees?

A. The good news is where your hybrid cars have CO2 emissions levels of 120g/km or less, the taxable benefit will remain at 10% of the list price. The tax increase will only apply to cars with higher CO2 emissions. Hybrid petrol/electric cars in this category currently get a 3% reduction in the percentage of list price that forms the basis of the car benefit charge for employees. From 6 April 2011 that discount will be removed, and the regular 1% increase in list price percentage will apply to all cars. For example the taxable benefit for a hybrid car with CO2 emissions of 179g/km is currently 21% of the list price. From 6 April 2011 the benefit for this car will increase to 25% of its list price.