RV for business up to 3.5 tons – VAT and operating cost deductions

Under the tax law, some motorhomes have been classified as “passenger cars,” i.e. motor vehicles within the meaning of the road traffic regulations with a permissible total weight not exceeding 3.5 tons structurally designed to transport no more than 9 persons including the driver (source: OJ 2022.2647, Article 5 A). In the case of a long-term rental of an RV for a business or the purchase of an RV that, according to the law, meets the definition of a personal vehicle, the following restrictions apply to the settlement of expenses related to the purchase of an RV for a business:

• 50% VAT deduction on expenses related to the purchase and operation of an RV for active VAT taxpayers
• 75% of the expenses incurred included in tax costs (expenses such as fuel costs, repair costs, technical service, technical examination, vehicle washing, parking fee, cost of tire replacement)

Attention: the above restrictions do not apply if the camper will be used exclusively in the conducted business. It is then possible to deduct 100% of the VAT and include 100% of the operating costs as a deductible expense.

If you intend to use the camper exclusively for your business (no private use or any use outside the business), it is necessary:

• keeping records of the mileage of vehicles in accordance with the provisions of the VAT Act
• submitting a VAT-26 form to the tax office within 7 days of the date on which the first vehicle-related expense was incurred
• creation of rules and regulations for the use of the purchased vehicle.

If you meet these requirements, you gain the right to full deduction of VAT and all operating expenses.

Note: This obligation does not apply to entrepreneurs whose campervans are used exclusively for the purpose:

• resale
• sales, in the case of vehicles manufactured by the taxpayer;
• to be put to paid use on the basis of a rental, lease, rental agreement or other agreement of similar nature

The last point relates to entrepreneurs who are in the business of renting RVs. In practice, this means that if your camper is destined to exclusively for rental, then in order to take advantage of the full settlement of the costs of operating the vehicle and the deduction of VAT at 100%, you are not obliged:

• submission of VAT-26 form
• nor to keep mileage records.

On the other hand, if your RV is to have another corporate use, such as a mobile office in an RV, then you must fulfill the aforementioned duties.

Camper for business – mobile office or for business travel

It turns out that it may be permissible The use of an RV as a mobile office or means of business travel. Such conclusions can be drawn from the individual 2023 tax interpretation No. 0115-KDIT3.4011.124.2023.1.KP. An entrepreneur, specifically: a debt collector who has to reach debtors living in different parts of Poland, asked the question whether he could purchase an RV for the company. The camper would be used as a mobile office and means of transportation. Here is an important part of the interpretation:

“In light of the presented description of the future event and the analysis of the aforementioned regulations, the vehicle referred to in the application will be considered a personal car, in accordance with the aforementioned definition contained in Article 5a(19a) of the Personal Income Tax Law. In view of the above, it should be stated that since the passenger car indicated in the application will be used by you both for business and private purposes, you will be entitled to include as a deductible expense, in accordance with Article 23(1)(4) of the Personal Income Tax Act, 75% of the operating expenses incurred for the following: fuel costs, technical inspection costs, maintenance costs, repair costs, vehicle washing costs, parking costs, tire replacement costs, and to include as a deductible expense through depreciation write-offs the expenses incurred for its purchase, applying the limit of PLN 150,000.”