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I'm currently job hunting and need to understand what sort of salary range to look for in advertised jobs.

Say my basic salary is £45,000. My work provide free lunches and my mobile phone so I estimate them to be worth a combined amount of about £1,000 per year, bringing my package to £46,000 per year. That's the easy part as there's no tax due on either of those items.

But, I don't know what to add to take into account my company car.

The company pay the lease on the car which is £430 per month so initially I thought if I were to lease that car myself it would cost me

12 * £430 = £5160 per year

Making my total package £51,160. But it occurs to me that were I to pay this lease myself out of my net salary, I'd already have paid tax on that £430 so do I need to account for that too?

However, there is also the "benefit in kind" (BIK) income tax due on the car where HMRC tax me based on the equivalent amount the car adds to my salary (which is based on a percentage of the list price of the car, with the actual percentage applied being a function of the CO2 emissions and fuel type. Because why make things simple?).

So for this year, 2017/2018, the Taxable Benefit Value (the salary equivalent value) of the car is calculated to be £9,355. This means, based on my salary of £45,000, the amount of tax I will pay on that £9,355 is about £3,450.

So which of all these values do I add to my base total of £46,000 to come up with an estimate of my total package?

Is it the lease cost?

£46,000 + £5,160 = £51,160

The Taxable Benefit Value?

£46,000 + £9,355 = £55,355

Or the amount of tax I'm actually paying?

£46,000 + £3,450 = £49,450

Or is it something different that I've missed?

Darren
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is not about navigating the workplace as defined in the [help]. – David K Sep 05 '17 at 18:43
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    How you assess your "total salary package" is going to vary a lot. Most companies only specifically tell you your basic salary. This question might be better suited at [money.se]. – David K Sep 05 '17 at 18:45
  • @DavidK I dispute it’s off-topic. Comes under “finding employment” and specifically “negotiations.” And I’m not asking for a subjective “how much do I think I’m worth answer” but an objective, “this is how much you earn from your job.” – Darren Sep 05 '17 at 18:48
  • @DavidK in the UK you get a yearly statement of all your benefits in kind as its reported to the tax man most people don't have to file a tax return its all done through PAYE – Neuromancer Sep 05 '17 at 18:49
  • I must agree with David, this question seems off topic here; you would be better asking in Personal Finance & Money. Your post basically is asking "What tax do I add?", which is related to tax laws, in case you will probably be better consulting a Lawyer or similar professional. Any change you can better reword your question? – DarkCygnus Sep 05 '17 at 18:55
  • I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it seems to belong in Personal Finance & Money or even to be asked to a Lawyer that knows about taxation. – DarkCygnus Sep 05 '17 at 18:58
  • @JoeStrazzere I’m not asking about working hours, commute times, or anything like that. Of course, if my commuting costs were to significantly change I’d take that into account. But all other things being equal, if I were to apply for a job next door to my current work, how do I know I’m not applying for a job that may pay less than I currently earn. – Darren Sep 05 '17 at 18:58
  • @JoeStrazzere not taking into account the current car situation would be a huge mistake. If I take a job that pays the same but I have to fund a car out of my own pocket, that is suddenly a huge financial burden and I’m worse off. – Darren Sep 05 '17 at 19:01
  • Also, I’m guessing those who are advocating asking on the personal finance stack and consulting a tax lawyer are, I’m guessing, left-pondian. Over here I’m not even sure if a tax lawyer is such a thing. At most I’d ask an accountant or HR advisor, but as everything is PAYE, this really should be a simple answer. – Darren Sep 05 '17 at 19:03
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    Possible duplicate of How can I determine a reasonable salary to ask for? – gnat Sep 05 '17 at 19:04
  • @DavidK you are not based in the uk should you not leave it to uk residents to decide if this is on topic or not? – Neuromancer Sep 05 '17 at 20:06
  • @Neuromancer This is why a question requires 5 votes to close, so that one (non-moderator) user cannot make such a decision alone. If you believe this question should be re-opened, you are welcome to make a post in [meta]. – David K Sep 05 '17 at 20:10

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I would use your base plus and taxable benefit as defined on your p60 you should be paying tax on the free lunch and mobile BTW and don't for get any employer pension contributions

Neuromancer
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  • Good point about checking my last P60. Food is only taxable if it’s only free to certain people (executives for example). If it’s available to all employees, it’s not taxable. Phones have not been taxable for some time (although smart phones were until a few years ago). – Darren Sep 05 '17 at 18:51
  • https://www.gov.uk/expenses-benefits-meals-employees-directors/whats-exempt – Darren Sep 05 '17 at 18:52
  • https://www.gov.uk/expenses-and-benefits-mobile-phones/whats-exempt – Darren Sep 05 '17 at 18:53
  • Actually, the P60 didn’t help loads as it only shows what I actually got paid. They tax the company car by reducing my tax code. But it got me thinking that the correct answer is “how much I paid tax on” plus the basic tax free allowance. I think working that out will give me a good figure to aim for. – Darren Sep 05 '17 at 19:25