First Year Allowances

On the 3rd March 2021, the government announced the following temporary first-year allowances (FYAs):

The super-deduction

This gives a 130% FYA for expenditure on plant and machinery (P&M) that would fall within the main pool. This means that for every pound a company invests, their taxes are cut by up to 25p.

Expenditure is classed as super-deduction expenditure where all the following conditions are met:

• It is incurred on or after 1 April 2021 and before 1 April 2023.
  
• It is incurred by a company within the charge to corporation tax.
  
• It is expenditure on plant or machinery which is unused and not second-hand.
  
• It is not within any of the general exclusions - common examples include where the the asset is a car; where the asset is acquired in the period in which the qualifying activity is permanently discontinued and where expenditure is incurred on the provision of P&M for leasing.

Example

Example Ltd purchases new computer equipment for £100,000 on 31^st May 2021.

The computer equipment is qualifying plant and machinery and therefore meets the conditions for the super-deduction.

The amount of the super-deduction is £130,000 (£100,000 at 130%). This will receive corporation tax relief at 19% which is £24,700.

Had this purchase been made prior to 1^st April 2021, it would have fallen within the company’s annual investment allowance, producing relief of only £19,000 (£100,000 at 19%).

The SR Allowance

An “SR allowance” – in the form of a 50% FYA – may be claimed in respect of qualifying expenditure (referred to as “SR allowance expenditure”).

Expenditure is considered SR allowance expenditure where all the following conditions are met:

• It is special rate expenditure.
• It is incurred on or after 1 April 2021 and before 1 April 2023.
• It is incurred by a company within the charge to corporation tax.
• It is not within any of the general exclusions - common examples include where the asset is a car; where the asset is acquired in the period in which the qualifying activity is permanently discontinued and where expenditure is incurred on the provision of P&M for leasing.

What is plant and machinery?

The kind of assets that will qualify for either the super-deduction or the 50% FYA include, but are not limited to:

• Solar panels
• Computer equipment and servers
• Tractors, lorries, vans
• Ladders, drills, cranes
• Office chairs and desks
• Electric vehicle charge points