Company Van
I have a client construction company who provided a van for an employee. The contract of employment clearly states that the van is not available for private use i.e. it can be used for "home to office" but all other private use is prohibited. HMRC on a CIS visit have stated a Van BiK applies as there is no mileage log for the van use. Despite my providing a copy of the contract HMRC insist tax and NICs are payable on a van benefit but I feel strongly that this is heavy handed. Does anyone have a similar experience?
You need records..
I have this same situation with approx. 10 employees using vans from home to work but they have all signed a declaration that they will not use for any private use. It is spelt out to them that if they do they will be liable for the BIK, a calculated private use of fuel element plus my employer's costs.
I know when the rules changed (or at least the benefit in kind changed considerably) a couple of years ago it was quite clear that you have to keep records otherwise you are open to this sort of charge. Their rule was mileage records to be kept, the employee to sign and agreement about van use and the use of the van to be included in a contract of employment. The current sheet is here :-
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vans/vans-info.pdf
Our employees have to fill in start and finish mileage on their weekly timesheet. I then keep this record in a very simple spreadsheet expressly for HMRC. If they inspect it they can cross check against the timesheet - if there is a discrepancy then the employee would have to explain it and, of course be liable not only for the BIK but the estimated cost of private fuel. I do my best to check this weekly too.
Sorry this doesn't solve your problem but if you don't have the records you can't prove non private use.