Can I tax a commercial vehicle as private?

Hi there,

I am looking for an option here. I am soon to change job. The options will be a company car or a car allowance. I would like to think I would be better off with the allowance as this will be a gross amount added to my wages and then taxed instead of a net amount taken directly from my wages. Probably the same amount but in reverse, but with the allowance I won't be down per month. I am wondering how possible it is to tax some commercial vehicles (the ones with back seats) as private vehicles. Is this allowed? Is there any law against this? Obviously this will increase the road tax on them anyway, but it will give me more options as am just considering these as an option.

Thanks.

Brian Murphy (Cork)

Dec 2019 Filed under: commercial vehicle

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Expert answer

Hi Brian,

It’s pretty simple to tax a commercial vehicle as a private car, but it does mean reverting to the old by-engine-capacity tax system, so beware of going over 2.0 litres in engine capacity as the tax cost starts to become prohibitive after that point. 

Read our Buying a commercial vehicle for private use feature on the subject for more.

Neil Briscoe - Complete Car Advisor
@neilmbriscoe