Did you know there is a new tax relief for property?

Posted by Barth Consulting Ltd on 1st November 2019 -

Structures and buildings allowances (SBA’s) is an entirely new tax allowance available for certain expenditure on non-residential buildings and structures.

The government wants to encourage more construction in the UK and to bring old assets back into use with the conversion, renovation and improvement of existing buildings. 

SBA’s are not to be confused with Industrial Buildings Allowances (IBA’s) which were abolished in the 2007 budget. The removal IBA’s left a large gap in the capital allowances regime.

Once IBAs were completely phased out in April of 2011 much of the capital expenditure on the “bricks and mortar” elements of commercial buildings did not attract any tax relief. Capital allowances were only applicable to expenditure on plant and machinery. Buildings were specifically excluded. All this changed again in October 2018, when it was announced in the budget that a new category of capital allowances was to be introduced from that 29 October.

The devil is in the detail. At the time of writing this article we are waiting for detailed guidance from HMRC because the draft legislation is lengthy and complicated.

What we do know about the key aspects of SBA’s:

• SBA’s apply to new capital expenditure on structures and buildings on contracts signed after 29 October 2018  
• The relief will be limited to the original cost and will be given at 2% per year for 50 years
• Land costs, landscaping and planning fees are excluded
• Expenditure on dwellings(residential) is excluded
• The expenditure will not qualify for SBA’s if it qualifies for plant and machinery allowances or integral features allowances first  
• The date of “first use” will trigger the ability to start claiming the allowances
• Notional allowances will be given for periods of temporary disuse
• When the property is sold, any unused SBA’s will pass to the new owner and the seller gets to keep what they have claimed so far

A general awareness of the new regime now will help with the paperwork and a successful claim later. Detailed record keeping will be essential if you want to make a fully auditable SBA claim. Further advice should be obtained if you are considering making a capital allowances claim on your property expenditure. 

For more information, please contact:

Barth Consulting Limited

Capital Allowances Consultants

[email protected]

+44 (0) 7775 021 365