New Court Ruling on Company Vans vs Company Cars

Company Vans vs Company Cars

It is usually beneficial for tax purposes that a vehicle in a business is classified as a commercial vehicle rather than a car. A new court ruling is not good news for people who run dual purpose vehicles.

The Court of Appeal have now ruled on the tax status of certain vehicles provided to employees of Coca Cola. The court has upheld the HMRC view that vans with windows and a second row of seats behind the driver are not goods vehicles but motor cars for benefit in kind purposes.

Consequently, the income tax and national insurance payable by employee and employer is significantly higher than if the vehicles had been classified as goods vehicles.

The income tax legislation defines a “goods vehicle” as “a vehicle of a construction primarily suited for the conveyance of goods or burden of any description…”

At the original Tax Tribunal it was decided that modified VW Kombi vans failed this test whereas modified Vauxhall Vivaro vans did fall within the definition of goods vehicles. However the Court of Appeal has now ruled that the Vauxhalls should also be taxed as motor cars for P11d benefit in kind purposes.

This means that where the vehicle is available for private use the taxable benefit will be based on the original list price multiplied by a percentage based on the vehicle’s CO2 emissions.

The decision means that employers may need to reconsider providing such vehicles. They may also need to rectify the P11d reporting in respect of earlier years and we await further guidance from HMRC.

What is also particularly confusing, and thus difficult for businesses to deal with, is that the benefit in kind rules are not the same as the rules for recovery of input VAT.

If you would like advice on which vehicle will be most tax efficient for your business please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

See our post on putting an electric car through your limited company.