How the VAT free scheme works

If you are a registered wheelchair user in the UK, then Orangewheels may be able to help you in your next new car purchase, by not only offering you a big discount on the car, but also selling the car VAT free. Please be aware this is not part of the Motability scheme, this is an entirely separate zero-rate VAT arrangement through HM revenue and customs for customers who are purchasing brand new vehicles outright, not using finance.

You can purchase a new car VAT free in the UK if you meet ALL of the following criteria:

• The car is purchased by a disabled person who normally uses a wheelchair to be get around.
• The vehicle is permanently and substantially adapted for the purpose, e.g. the fitment of hand controls. (more below)
• The vehicle is for personal use only of the disabled wheelchair user
• The selling dealership is provided with a completed form VAT1615A declaration to confirm the users eligibility.

Please note that using a mobility scooter does not qualify and temporary use of a wheelchair e.g. for shopping trips or due to an injury like a broken leg also does not qualify.

Adaptations to the vehicle must be permanent and substantial, and specific to the users requirements, allowing the user to enter, exit or drive the vehicle when it would not otherwise be possible. Examples include:

• A swivelling seat
• A hoist to lift the user into the vehicle
• Push-Pull brake & accelerator hand controls
• A wheelchair box fitted to the back of the vehicle

Minor adaptations such as steering knobs do not qualify, or options such as automatic gearboxes, parking sensors, a roofrack or trailer do not qualify as they are general adaptations and not specifically designed for wheelchair use.

Because there have been a well known number of abuses of this scheme where users have been purchasing multiple new cars and selling them on at a profit, and HMRC has taken the user to court and prosecuted them, dealers are now rightly cautious about misuse of the VAT free scheme. To help avoid abuse, any dealer Orangewheels uses will run a background check on any potential purchaser to see if they have bought a car using this scheme in the last 12 months - if they have done so, both Orangewheels and our supplying dealerships will decline the sale.

All of the prices shown on our website will include VAT (and sometimes finance offers too), so if you submit an enquiry via the website, our dealers can contact you and confirm the final VAT free sale price, and also confirm if they are participating in the scheme.

For further information and for the relevant declaration form, follow this link to the HMRC website: HMRC VAT1615 Helpsheet.