My client's husband has just started out as a self-employed taxi driver, and he's asked me to look after his books. He has just purchased a second hand black taxis cab. Do I need to classify this as plant and machinery or motor vehciles? He has another car so the cab will be used 100% for business. I've heard the tax treatment for both is different, so I don't want to mess this up!
Black cabs do not fall with the definition of a car for tax purposes, and therefore should be treated as plant and machinery in the books. The tax advantage of this is that your client will be able to claim first year capital allowances on the cab, which will reduce his tax liability.
If your client had purchased an ordinary car for use in his business, this would fall within the definition of a car and he would not be able to claim first year allowances.
