Double cab pick-up vehicles to be treated as cars

Double cab pick-up vehicles (DCPUs) with a payload of one tonne or more are to be treated as cars for specified tax purposes.

The autumn Budget Red Book states that from 1 April 2025 for corporation tax and 6 April 2025 for income tax DCPUs will be treated as cars for the purposes of capital allowances benefits in kind and some deductions from business profits. The existing capital allowances treatment will apply to those who buy DCPUs before April 2025.

Transitional benefit-in-kind arrangements will apply for employers that have purchased leased or ordered a DCPU before 6 April 2025. They will be able to use the previous treatment until the earlier of disposal lease expiry or 5 April 2029.

Alastair Kendrick said: ‘The historical practice of treating DCPUs to be a van for benefit-in-kind and capital allowances...