Crew pickups and benefit in kind in the UK: what HMRC's manual and the Act say

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It is not tax advice either: HMRC is the office to ask about a particular vehicle. It describes the statute and HMRC's internal manual, and it does not say how any employer or employee should treat a vehicle. The manual itself tells HMRC staff not to comment on how a particular vehicle will be treated. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

What the Act says

Section 115 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 defines the two words for the company vehicle chapter. A car is a mechanically propelled road vehicle that is not any of four things: a goods vehicle, a motor cycle, an invalid carriage, or a vehicle of a type not commonly used as a private vehicle and unsuitable to be so used. A van is a mechanically propelled road vehicle that is a goods vehicle and has a design weight not exceeding 3,500 kilograms. The section defines a goods vehicle as a vehicle of a construction primarily suited for the conveyance of goods or burden of any description, and design weight as the weight a vehicle is designed or adapted not to exceed when in normal use and travelling on a road laden. See section 115 on legislation.gov.uk.

HMRC on the meaning of car

HMRC's manual page EIM23100 repeats the four exceptions. It says a goods vehicle will include most commercial vehicles such as lorries, pick-up trucks or vans, and it stresses that the test is of construction, not use. It says a vehicle that escapes being a car by the goods vehicle route is treated as a van, unless it is large enough to be a heavy goods vehicle. See HMRC manual EIM23100 on the meaning of car.

Page EIM23115 expands on the goods vehicle test, which has two parts. The first is to identify the construction of the vehicle in the relevant tax year. The second is to ask whether that construction is primarily suited for conveying goods or burden. HMRC says modifications can change the construction if they are sufficiently permanent and substantial in scale, and gives two contrasts. Sliding out the rear seats while leaving seat mountings and belt fixtures in place, or fitting temporary coverings over rear side windows, does not change the construction. Permanent removal of the rear seats and associated fittings, possibly with a welded-in load base and welded-in panels in place of rear side windows, may well change it. See HMRC manual EIM23115 on the meaning of construction.

Double cab pickups

HMRC describes a double cab pickup as normally having a front passenger cab with a second row of seats seating about four passengers plus the driver, four doors, and an uncovered pickup area behind the cab. It says single cab pickups with one row of seats are normally accepted to be vans. The manual has two pages, split at April 6, 2025.

Period	What the manual says
April 6, 2002 to April 5, 2025 (EIM23150)	HMRC read the car and van definitions in line with the VAT definitions. A double cab pickup with a payload of 1 tonne (1,000 kg) or more was accepted as a van. Payload is gross vehicle weight or design weight less unoccupied kerb weight. A hard top is given a generic weight of 45 kg, and other optional accessories are disregarded. The 1 tonne rule applied only to double cab pickups
From April 6, 2025 (EIM23151)	HMRC no longer aligns with the VAT approach. Classification is by assessing the vehicle as a whole at the point it is made available, using the two-part construction test. HMRC says most double cab pickups are expected to be classified as cars, because they are typically equally suited to carry passengers and goods

EIM23151 adds that the VAT input tax position is unchanged and that the change does not affect how Vehicle Excise Duty is calculated.

Transitional arrangements

The manual says an employer that purchased, leased or ordered a double cab pickup before April 6, 2025 can rely on the earlier treatment until the earliest of disposal, lease expiry or April 5, 2029. It adds that where such a vehicle is transferred between the employer's own employees between April 6, 2025 and April 5, 2029, the earlier treatment can continue if there is no disposal and the lease has not expired. Its worked examples include a purchase on September 14, 2025 (classified as a car), a lease signed December 10, 2024 (earlier rules continue) and a lease that expired October 31, 2026 and was renewed the next day (a car from November 1, 2026). See HMRC manual EIM23150 and EIM23151 on double cab pickups from April 6, 2025.

At a glance

Item	What the sources say
Statute	ITEPA 2003 section 115
Van weight line	Design weight not exceeding 3,500 kilograms, and a goods vehicle
Test for goods vehicle	Construction primarily suited for conveying goods or burden, not use
Double cab pickup before April 6, 2025	Van if payload is 1 tonne or more
Double cab pickup from April 6, 2025	Assessed on construction; most expected to be cars
Transitional end date	The earliest of disposal, lease expiry or April 5, 2029
Insurance cover for vehicles	Not covered on this page; see the guide on tree business insurance