A refrigerated van is a big purchase, but for most businesses its full cost can come off their taxable profits in the year they buy it. Here’s how 100% tax relief works on a fridge or freezer van, as the rules stand on GOV.UK in October 2026. Check with your accountant before you rely on it.
Two ways to get 100% relief
The Annual Investment Allowance
The AIA lets sole traders, partnerships of individuals and limited companies deduct the full cost of plant and machinery, vans included, from their profits in the year they buy it, up to £1 million a year. It covers used vans as well as new ones. Business cars don’t qualify. (GOV.UK)
Full expensing
Limited companies can claim full expensing instead: 100% relief in the year of purchase on plant and machinery that is new and unused and isn’t a car. So it fits a new fridge van bought by a company, but not a used one. (GOV.UK)
Does a refrigerated van qualify?
A refrigerated van bought for your business is a van, so it qualifies like any other van, conversion included. There are no special environmental or specification tests for the van itself; what matters is that it’s bought for and used in the business. Your accountant will want the invoice, which shows the van and the conversion.
A simple example
Say a company buys a new medium fridge van for £34,995 +VAT. Claiming full expensing or the AIA, it deducts the full £34,995 from that year’s profits, instead of spreading the cost over several years through writing down allowances (14% a year in the main pool from April 2026). The VAT is handled separately: if you’re VAT registered you claim it back in the normal way.
Things to check first
- Your profits: relief is only worth having if you have profits to set it against this year.
- Your AIA: the £1 million a year is for everything you buy, not just the van.
- How you pay: on hire purchase you claim the allowances yourself; on a finance lease the rentals are normally an allowable business expense instead. See our finance page.
- Selling the van later: when you sell a van you’ve claimed relief on, the sale price comes back into your tax calculation, so talk to your accountant about timing.
Paying for the van
Finance is available for business customers from a £500 +VAT deposit, on hire purchase or lease, subject to status. More on the allowances in how to claim tax back on your van, including the 40% first-year allowance for unincorporated businesses.
See our new fridge vans, used fridge vans and freezer vans, or call us on 01444 245555.
