Van purchase

You cannot deduct the full purchase price of a van as a normal expense. Instead, you claim capital allowances (the way HMRC lets you claim the cost of bigger purchases like vans and equipment, either upfront or spread over time). Under the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA), you can deduct the full cost of a van (up to £1 million per year) in the tax year you buy it. This is the simplest option for most trades. If you use cash basis accounting (where you record income and spending when money changes hands), you can claim the van as a direct expense without going through capital allowances. If you prefer to spread the cost, use writing-down allowances, but the AIA is almost always the better choice for a single van.