Government U-turn on double cab pickups

Published: 20th February 2024

We previously reported that the tax treatment of double cab pickup trucks was to change with effect from 1 July 2024, with the VAT definition no longer being followed. However, just a week on from that announcement, the government has taken onboard concerns raised by farmers and other concerned users and scrapped the change. Instead, the legislation will be amended using the next Finance Bill to ensure that double cab pickups with a payload of at least one tonne will be treated as vans, for both income tax and capital allowances purposes. This will mirror the VAT definition, which HMRC has always referred to in its guidance – but this will now be on a statutory footing. Smaller pickups with a payload below one tonne will continue to be treated as cars rather than vans.