Don’t miss out on unclaimed tax relief
What are Capital Allowances?
Capital Allowances are a form of tax relief given on eligible items of plant & machinery used to decrease your taxable profits, and therefore your tax bill. We want to make it easy for you to understand Capital Allowances and what you can claim for. The easiest way to think about it is if you were to pick up a commercial building and shake it, the items remaining after the loose items have fallen out, could be eligible for Capital Allowances.
How much could your Capital Allowance Claim could be?
WHICH FIXTURES ARE ELIGIBLE FOR A CAPITAL ALLOWANCE CLAIM?
What qualifies as an eligible item of fixed plant and machinery has been a topic of debate in the courts for over a century. Fixed plant and machinery encompasses numerous systems commonly found in most properties, including:
- Electrical Distribution & Lighting
- Plumbing & Heating
- Air Conditioning
- Ventilation Systems
- Security & Fire Alarms
- Lift & Hoist Systems
- Fixed Furniture
- Solar Panels
WHY CHOOSE STAX?
Claiming Capital Allowances is a highly specialised area, and this complexity has resulted in tens of billions of pounds of tax relief remaining unclaimed. By entrusting your claim to STax, you are in safe hands. We bring together a team of Surveyors, Accountants, and Property Tax Specialists, all equipped with a thorough understanding of the inner workings of over a century’s worth of case law relating to Capital Allowances.
Find out how much your claim could be
Capital Allowance Calculator
Our Capital Allowance Calculator will let you know in seconds what your estimated claim could be. Alternatively, our team would be happy to give you a free desktop review, giving you the opportunity to ask any questions relating to your particular circumstances.
Our 4 Step process
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Most accountants provide some form of Capital Allowance advice. However, because the tax system is vast, general practice accountants are very unlikely to be a specialist within every area of tax. Much like general practice doctors wouldn’t be expected to conduct heart or brain surgery.
In order to maximise the Capital Allowances you can claim, we possess a specific skillset (which include chartered accountancy, tax advisory and chartered surveying) with a far more detailed and up-to-date understanding of Capital Allowances.
Therefore, general firms of accountants (apart from some larger firms), will seek specialists like us to handle this area for them.
Working alongside your accountants will ensure a positive outcome, and your accountant will be able to sign off our work before it is submitted to HMRC.
If you are a UK taxpayer or have a company registered in the UK which owns commercial property anywhere in the world, there is a very good chance you could be due a sizeable tax benefit due to unused Capital Allowances within the property.
We only charge as a percentage of the Allowances that we find. We feel it is the best and fairest way to work with our clients.
Should we discover that no Capital Allowances are available, we will close your file and no fee will be due (subject to our terms and conditions), regardless of the work undertaken up to that point.
No, claiming Capital Allowances will not increase your Capital Gains Tax bill on a property.
There is a distinction to be drawn between the moveable furniture & equipment which are separate items to the building and embedded plant & machinery (fixtures & fittings) which are fixed to the building.
The embedded plant is not removed from the building and therefore not allocated separately in the accounts. The introduction of Capital Allowances into the pool or pools is therefore a tax concern and not an accounting consideration. The accounts are not amended, the only change is to the respective pool or pools where the plant & machinery Allowances are introduced.
There is no time limit as to how far you can go back, however, this relief is driven by cost, not by the current value. There are other limitations in regard to when the property was purchased, however, it is always worth us looking.
Usually your accountant will claim on everyday loose items of plant such as computers, desks, chairs, etc. However, most accountants will not have the necessary skillset or resources required to form a ‘just and reasonable’ apportionment of a property’s purchase price and place values on the qualifying items of plant within. STax, on the other hand, have a far more complex understanding of Capital Allowances legislation and carry out a detailed on-site survey of your property to help maximise your claim.
The type of items that you can expect to claim on are generally anything that is screwed, glued or embedded to the structure of the building. Such items include all electrical wiring, general lighting, security installations, heating systems, lifts, plumbing and sanitary ware, amongst others.
Yes. In our experience, it can still be worthwhile identifying Capital Allowances, especially if a taxable profit is expected in the near future.
There are situations in which Capital Allowances will not yield an immediate return. However, they can sometimes be used to offset Capital Gains Tax liabilities, surrendered to group companies, passed on to new owners and more, which can be a fantastic selling point to the right buyer should you desire to sell in the future.
Everybody’s circumstances are different, and we would always recommend talking to us so that we can carry out an appraisal and provide advice.
The Special Rate Pool relates to ‘long-life’ items. These are typically expected to last approximately 25 years. Items such as cold-water systems, general lighting, general power, hot water systems, ventilation, lifts and escalators, and solar panels.
You will receive an invoice shortly after receiving the report. The fees are on 30-day terms.
At the point of issuing the report, HMRC has not yet seen our findings. You would need to send the report to your accountant for submission to HMRC as an attachment to the relevant period tax return. When you submit the report, HMRC normally processes the claim and only contacts you if they have any questions regarding a specific item in the report. STax will assist in resolving it with no further charge to you.
The Capital Allowance claim is not a pound for pound rebate from HMRC, it reduces your taxable profits on which your relevant percentage of corporation tax/income tax is applied. Sometimes this can result in a rebate from HMRC, but it is entirely dependent on your individual circumstances and tax paid to date.