EIM66710 - Tax treatment of National Health Service employees: payments for using own car for work: GWC and HMDS payment schemes

There are no special tax arrangements for payments to NHS employees for using their own car for work. All mileage allowance payments are dealt with under the statutory approved mileage allowance payments (AMAPs) scheme. Full guidance is at EIM31200 onwards.

Background information

Make sure you are familiar with the material at EIM66705 before reading this page.

Although payments made under the General Whitley Council (GWC) and Hospital Medical and Dental Staff (HMDS) rules are different in amount, both schemes provide for payments for business travel to be made to:

  • standard users at a given rate per mile
  • regular users by means of a lump sum plus a given rate per mile.

(Note that NHS employers which have chosen to pay mileage allowances under their own schemes are also likely to recognise standard and regular users. You need to compare the actual rates paid for particular car engine sizes in order to work out whether or not the centrally agreed rates are being used).

Under the centrally agreed schemes the given rate per mile varies according to car engine size. The engine size categories are different for the GWC and the HMDS schemes.

Under the GWC scheme engine sizes are divided into the following classes:

### Class ### Engine size (cc)
1 Up to 1,000
2 1,001 to 1,500
3 1,501 and over

Under the HMDS scheme engine sizes are divided into the following classes:

### Class ### Engine size (cc)
1 Up to 1,000
2 1,001 to 1,500
3 1,501 to 2,000
4 2,001 and over