Will any commercial vehicle count as a "van" for BIK purposes?

[SuperPad]

I'm setting up a new company and want to avail of the reduced (5%) BIK on a company van. But can this be applied to any commercial vehicle? Like a Citroen C4 "van" that I looked at for example, even though it's registered as a commercial vehicle, looks like just a 3-door car with rear windows blanked out. Would this qualify as a "van" for Revenue purposes? I've read the Revenue FAQ which made me afraid that the C4 (for example) wouldn't qualify but I need to know from people's experience how strictly the rules are applied cos there's loads of similar (rear windows blacked out) commercial vehicles out there.

 

[Joe_90]

The fundamental question is does it have back seats??

 

[SuperPad]

The fundamental question is does it have back seats??

No back seats. Probably no back seats ever. Does that make it a "van" for BIK purposes even with blacked out, carpet-over rear sidewindows (glass)?

 

[Joe_90]

What with the blacked out windows?

A van does not have back seats a car does.

 

[SuperPad]

What with the blacked out windows?

A van does not have back seats a car does.

Thanks Joe. Is that the Revenue's position? Cos I read their FAQ and it left me some doubt.

 

[rob oyle]

My brother bought a similar veichle to avail of the lower tax etc. for work. It was deemed a non-commercial veichle (it was coming in from the UK) and he ended up no better off. Not sure what the criteria were, I'll ask him.

 

[SuperPad]

Thanks Rob -- that's precisely the kind of thing that worried me. Please do get back to us if you have any more info.

 

[Joe_90]

http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/benefit-in-kind/private-use-vans.html#section3

@rob oyle your brother bought a van in the UK and assumed it was commercial and when he went to pay VRT and motor tax it was not or your brother bought a van and it was treated as a car of BIK purposes?

 

[rob oyle]

http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/benefit-in-kind/private-use-vans.html#section3

@rob oyle your brother bought a van in the UK and assumed it was commercial and when he went to pay VRT and motor tax it was not or your brother bought a van and it was treated as a car of BIK purposes?

The first of those - because of the vehicle's configuration he thought it would be categorised as a commercial vehicle. More fool him for not checking first!

 

[rob oyle]

Thanks Rob -- that's precisely the kind of thing that worried me. Please do get back to us if you have any more info.

Although not an exhaustive response, my brother was told that any vehicle which has a non-commercial equivalent, however rare, would not be categorised as a commercial vehicle. The VW Caddy, for example, is more commonly seen as a small van but is also available as a MPV, so the 'van' version wouldn't be a commercial. That's what he was told anyway.

 

[SuperPad]

Bad luck.
Bad enough as it was though, imagine if he'd been able to use it for a year expecting to pay BIK tax on 5% of original value only to find it should be 30% ... That's what I'm trying to avoid.