Is a double-cab pick-up a van or a car for tax?

Three separate answers

"Van or car" is not one question. The same vehicle can be treated one way for VAT, another for capital allowances and another for benefit in kind, and the answers do not have to agree with each other. Working out one of them and assuming it settles the others is the mistake that costs money here.

What changed for double-cabs

HMRC no longer treats the capital allowances and benefit-in-kind definitions of a car as excluding double-cab pick-ups by reference to payload in the way it previously did. The change came with transitional arrangements, and there are two different transitional dates depending on which tax you are looking at.

That means the answer for a specific vehicle depends on when it was bought or ordered, and which of the three questions you are asking. It is one of the few areas on this site where the right answer genuinely cannot be given without the dates.

What to check before you buy

• The order date and the delivery date, both — the transitional rules turn on them.
• Whether you are buying through a company or as a sole trader, because the benefit in kind question only arises for the company.
• Whether there is private use, and whether it is more than incidental.
• What the capital allowances treatment does to the year's tax bill, given the writing-down allowance is being cut to 14%.

The capital allowances calculator shows what the relief is worth under each treatment.

This question is part of Vans, tools and capital allowances, which covers the whole area.