Thinking about taking a new company car or hanging on to the one you’ve got? Here’s the low‑down on how the tax rules are about to creep up over the next few years—and why your electric run‑about might not stay the bargain it looks today.

First, a quick refresher. If you can use your company car for personal trips, the taxman treats that perk as extra pay. They start with the car’s list price (plus any factory‑fitted toys) and multiply it by what HMRC calls the “appropriate percentage.” That percentage depends mainly on CO₂ emissions, with a diesel penalty if the engine isn’t squeaky‑clean. You can knock a bit off for any contribution you’ve made, or for weeks when the car sat idle at the office, but that’s the headline formula.

From April 2025 the percentages all rise by a full point, up to the usual 37 % ceiling. That might not sound like much, but it means pure‑electric cars jump from a 2 % charge to 3 %. On a £30,000 Tesla or Nissan Leaf, a higher‑rate taxpayer will fork out roughly £120 extra in 2025/26. Employers get stung too: the Class 1A National Insurance rate climbs from 13.8 % to 15 %, and of course a bigger benefit equals a bigger NI bill.

Looking one year further, 2026/27 sees another nudge for cleaner cars. Anything pumping out 74 g/km of CO₂ or less moves up an extra percentage point; the dirtier models hold steady. In 2027/28, HMRC tightens the screw again, this time only on vehicles at 69 g/km and below.

The big leap comes in 2028/29. Electric cars jump two points to 7 %, and the whole “electric‑range” break for hybrids disappears. Cars that emit between 1 and 50 g/km are all slapped with a flat 18 % charge—bad news if you’ve been enjoying the super‑low 5 % rate on a long‑range plug‑in. Everyone else moves up one point, and the top band rises to 38 %. A year later, 2029/30 repeats the trick: zero‑emission cars hit 9 %, the 1–50 g/km crowd move to 19 %, and the overall cap climbs to 39 %.

In plain English: the Government is clawing back revenue as more drivers go electric. If you keep a company car for three or four years, don’t just look at today’s headline rate—check where it will land in 2027, 2028, and beyond. That zippy EV perk might feel a lot pricier by the time you hand back the keys.