VAT and buying van

My husband has just become self-employed and is thinking of buying a van for work.Can he claim back VAT on it?Does it have to be new for this?Any advice ?

You can only claim back VAT on certain types of vans when bought new - the rate of VRT will determine if it is a commercial vehicle and accordingly if the VAT can be claimed back. The rate of VRT for a commercial vehicle is very low - eg Eur 400 as opposed to 20% to 30% of the purchase price. Basically low rate of VRT then VAT is reclaimable. There may be some exceptions to this rule but very few I believe.

You can only claim back VAT on certain types of vans when bought new

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VAT can also be claimed on second-hand vans provided the seller of the van is vat-registered. The usual caveats also apply.