Plant & Machinery Allowances

This is the capital allowance most often seen in practice and is available for expenditure incurred on plant and machinery (P&M).

Plant is difficult to define. There is no definitive list of assets that qualify as plant, so it is necessary in practice to consider statute, over 100 years of case law and HM Revenue concessions/practice.

Typical P&M assets in commercial buildings include: heating and cooling systems, lifts, some electrical and water installations, some furnishings and fittings and many more assets.

To obtain the full tax relief available it is vital to ensure that all qualifying assets are proactively identified.

Although most commonly available at 25% per annum, depending on particular circumstances, 'writing down allowances' for P&M range from 6% to 100%.

From 2008/09 the rates of tax relief for P&M will change so that they range from 10% to 100% and the standard rate becomes 20%.