ROCHESTER, WI - Nearly three-quarters of organizations allow employees to use fleet vehicles for personal reasons, and 15 percent of these companies do not account for this personal use for tax purposes. These findings are reported in the 2000 edition of Survey & Analysis of Financial Treat­ment of Executive & Business Vehicles, published by Runzheimer International, a Rochester, Wl-based management consulting firm.

According to the 129 financial executives who re­sponded to the survey, 74 percent said their organization allows persona] use of fleet vehicles, compared to 68 per­cent who did two years ago. Forty-nine percent of those sur­veyed impute income to the employee's W-2 tax return, 30 percent use personal-use charge backs, 6 percent use both methods, and 15 percent do nothing.

There is a pecking order within organizations as to how personal use of vehicles by employees is handled. Twenty-seven percent of organizations gross up imputed income from personal use of business vehicles for top executives, but only 3 to 5 percent offer this financial benefit to employees further down the organization chart.

For those employees who only occasionally use their personal vehicles for business, the survey re­veals an average per-mile payment rate of 32 cents for 2000. This compares to 31 cents per mile two years ago. The IRS cents-per-mile allowance is set at 32.5 cents for 2000.