Value Added Tax Act 1994 section 83

Meaning of "new means of transport"

Section 83 defines what counts as a "new means of transport" for VAT purposes, covering ships, aircraft and motorised land vehicles, and sets out the thresholds that determine when such transport ceases to be treated as new.

• A "means of transport" includes ships over 7.5 metres in length, aircraft with a take-off weight exceeding 1,550 kilograms, and motorised land vehicles with engine capacity over 48 cubic centimetres or electric propulsion exceeding 7.2 kilowatts.
• A means of transport is treated as new unless it has been in service for more than 3 months (ships and aircraft) or 6 months (land vehicles), and has also travelled more than 100 hours (ships), 40 hours (aircraft) or 6,000 kilometres (land vehicles).
• Both the time-in-service condition and the distance or hours-travelled condition must be met before a means of transport loses its "new" status.
• The Treasury may amend the types of transport covered and the criteria for newness by order, and HMRC may make regulations specifying when a means of transport is treated as having first entered into service.