Where does a car go in the fixed assets workbook?
Enter a car on the Cars rows of the fixed assets schedule, never on a Plant row. A Plant row claims 100% of the cost in the year of purchase, and cars do not qualify for the annual investment allowance.[1] The Cars rows claim writing down allowance at the main rate instead.
The Cars rows in each package
- Company Accounts: Fixedassets, Schedule. A car bought in the year goes on rows 97 to 101, under Motor Vehicles - Cars. A car owned before the year goes on rows 44 to 48. Column M is the private use share.
- Self Employed: Fixedassets, Schedule. A car bought in the year goes on rows 91 to 95 or 97 to 101, in the two Motor Vehicles blocks that carry a cost heading. A car owned before the year goes on rows 38 to 42 or 44 to 48. Column M is the private use share.
- Basic Sole Trader: the Fixed Assets sheet. The rows are the same as in the Self Employed package. Column G is the private use share.
- Taxi Driver: the Fixed Assets sheet. A car bought in the year goes on rows 47 to 51 or 55 to 59, under Vehicles under £12,000 or Vehicles over £12,000. A car owned before the year goes on rows 18 to 22 or 26 to 30. Column F is the private use share.
Each Cars row claims the cost of the car times the main rate times one minus the private use share.
What a car can claim
A car claims one of three allowances. The main rate allowance is 14% of the car's value each year, or 18% before April 2026.[2] The special rate allowance is 6% of the car's value each year.[3] A new and unused car with CO2 emissions of 0g/km, or an electric car, can claim the full value as a 100% first-year allowance when you buy it before April 2027.[4]
From April 2021, a new or second hand car with CO2 emissions of 50g/km or less gets the main rate. A new or second hand car with CO2 emissions over 50g/km gets the special rate.[5] Main and special rates apply from 1 April for businesses that pay Corporation Tax, and from 6 April for businesses that pay Income Tax.[6] If your accounting period includes the day the main rate changed, GOV.UK says you must work out a hybrid rate for that accounting period.[7] The Company Accounts package holds the hybrid rate on its Admin sheet for a period that includes 1 April 2026, rounded up to 2 decimal places as GOV.UK says, and shows it as a whole number.
If your business provides a car for an employee or director, you can claim capital allowances on the full cost.[8] In the Company Accounts package, leave column M at 0 for that car.
What the Cars rows do not do
The Cars rows claim the main rate. They have no first-year allowance cell. The Self Employed package has a special rate marker, and the other packages do not. A car over 50g/km goes in the special rate pool, at 6%. The Cars rows still claim the main rate. In the Self Employed package, type S in column AB of the car's row to claim 6%. Your package guide shows what to add for a new zero-emission car.
What is not a car
GOV.UK says a car is a type of vehicle that is suitable for private use, that most people use privately and that was not built for transporting goods.[9] Lorries, vans and trucks do not count as cars. Motorcycles do not count as cars, apart from those bought before 6 April 2009.[10] Put a van or a lorry on the Vans & Lorries rows or on the Plant rows.
HMRC's Capital Allowances Manual also says to treat a hackney carriage, a traditional London black cab type of vehicle, as not a car.[11] A purpose-built taxi goes on the Plant rows. In the Taxi Driver package it goes in the block headed Fixed Assets including Commercial vehicles. Any other taxi or minicab is a car, because HMRC says to treat a car that is capable of being used as a private vehicle as a car however you use it.[12]
For expenditure on or after 1 April 2025 for Corporation Tax and 6 April 2025 for Income Tax, HMRC says most, if not all, double cab pick-ups will be classified as cars.[13]
If an earlier year has a car on a Plant row
The Plant row claimed 100% of the cost, which a car does not qualify for. Amend that year's return. A company must usually make changes to its Company Tax Return within 12 months of the filing deadline.[14] A sole trader can correct a Self Assessment return within 12 months of the Self Assessment deadline.[15]
After those times, the pages say what to do. If a company has underpaid Corporation Tax, it should tell HMRC using the online disclosure service as soon as possible.[16] A sole trader who needs to change a return from an earlier tax year writes to HMRC.[17]
Then move the car to the Cars rows in the package for the next year. Enter it in the existing assets section, with its tax written down value after the allowances you are entitled to.
Filing from the spreadsheet
DIY Accounting Submit files VAT returns from the figures in your spreadsheet, and company accounts and the confirmation statement. See what DIY Accounting Submit can file, and the steps for a VAT return from a spreadsheet.
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Article generated by Claude Code for DIY Accounting, November 2026. All information sourced from GOV.UK and HMRC guidance linked inline.
Tax reference: capital allowances for cars – Source: GOV.UK: Claim capital allowances: business cars; GOV.UK: 100% first-year allowances; GOV.UK: Work out your capital allowances: rates and pools; Capital Allowances Manual CA23510; Capital Allowances Manual CA23511; GOV.UK: Company Tax Returns: making changes; GOV.UK: Self Assessment tax returns: if you need to change your return
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