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Pick-up Truck Tax Changes Affecting Drivers In 2025

If you’re thinking about acquiring a pick-up truck in 2025, here’s everything you need to know about the new tax rules that apply to these vehicles.

Tom Roberts

Words by: Tom Roberts

Published on 31 January 2025 | 0 min read

Tax. As inevitable as the sun rising, we all have to pay taxes - and if you’re a pick-up truck driver, the tax rules around pick-up trucks are changing from April 2025. We’re talking higher benefit-in-kind (BIK) tax rates, new rules around deductions and impacts on capital allowances. Strap in.

What Tax Rules Are Changing For Pick-Up Trucks

Starting from 6th April 2025, a double cab pick-up truck that can carry at least one tonne of payload in its load space will stop being classified as a van for BIK or capital allowance. The vehicles will be classified as passenger cars meaning higher BIK tax rates for employees driving them and lower capital allowances for businesses running them as company vehicles.
That means no more flat-rate annual BIK charges of £3,960 like other light commercial vehicles, and far smaller capital allowance deductions on these vehicles before tax. Luckily, VAT rules stay the same for double cabs, so VAT reclamation on vehicle payments is the same if the business is VAT registered and the pick-up can carry one tonne in the back.

Do These Changes Affect ALL Pick-up Trucks?

Interestingly, none of these new tax rules affect single or extended cab pick-up trucks as HMRC has deemed them “clearly made for commercial use only”. They therefore remain classified as commercial vehicles for tax purposes. Of course, you could also buy a used pick-up truck of any size.

Double Cab BIK Rates Change

Previously, the BIK for a double cab pick-up truck being run as a commercial vehicle (if it could carry one tonne in its loadspace) was fixed at £3,960 regardless of emissions or price.
However, from April 2025 a £50k double cab Ford Ranger (for example) would fall into the 37 per cent BIK rate, meaning you’d need to pay £3,550 in tax if you were a 20 per cent taxpayer. For people in the 40 per cent tax bracket, that new tax payment would be just over £7,000!

When Do These Tax Changes Happen?

The capital allowance changes come into effect on 1st April 2025, and BIK changes go live on 6th April 2025. HMRC has said that if you buy, finance or lease a pick-up truck before the deadlines above then the old rules and rates apply… until you get rid of that vehicle, the lease/finance on it ends, or the arbitrary Government deadline of 5th April 2029 passes.

Did You Find This Article Interesting?

If you found this article interesting and can’t enough of vehicle tax information, there’s another one all about car tax for you to read.
Or, you can cleanse your palate and head to our vans content section and check out our huge range of commercial vehicle reviews, news, guides and advice articles.

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