Capital allowance changes ahead

The October Budget produced a number of proposals relating to the capital allowances system. These include:

• a reduction in the rate of writing down allowance on the special rate pool of plant and machinery, including long-life assets, thermal insulation, integral features and expenditure on cars with CO2 emissions of more than 110g/km, from 8% to 6% from April 2019. Complex calculations may apply to accounting periods which straddle this date;
• clarification as to precisely which costs of altering land for the purposes of installing qualifying plant or machinery qualify for capital allowances, for claims on or after 29 October 2018;
• the end of the 100% first year allowance and first year tax credits for products on the Energy Technology List and Water Technology List from April 2020;
• an extension of the current 100% first year allowance for expenditure incurred on electric charge-point equipment until 2023.

In addition, a new capital allowances regime will be introduced for structures and buildings. It will be known as the Structures and Buildings Allowance and will apply to new non-residential structures and buildings. Relief will be provided on eligible construction costs incurred on or after 29 October 2018, at an annual rate of 2% on a straight-line basis.

Finally, the Government has announced an increase in the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) for two years to £1 million in relation to qualifying expenditure incurred from 1 January 2019. Complex calculations may apply to accounting periods which straddle this date as some of you may remember from previous AIA changes. 

Advise your clients on the potential impact of capital allowances changes announced in the Budget with a client letter. To find out more about the letter, which focuses on the AIA and WDA changes, please click here.