Capital allowances guides
18 guides covering what qualifies inside a commercial building, the reliefs that apply to it, what happens when the property changes hands, and what a tenant who paid for their own fit-out can claim. Written for owners and occupiers rather than for accountants.
Start here
Booking a commercial property tax consultation
What happens on the call, what to have to hand, and what we can tell you before anyone visits the building.
Commercial property capital allowances
What capital allowances are worth on UK commercial property, which parts of a building qualify, and how a claim actually gets made.
What qualifies
Historical expenditure and unclaimed allowances
How far back a claim can reach on a property you already own, and what has to be true for historical expenditure to still qualify.
Integral features and qualifying assets
Which fixtures inside a commercial building qualify as plant, which fall into integral features, and why the distinction changes the rate.
Leasehold fit-out: what a tenant can claim
You do not have to own a building to claim. If you paid for the fit-out of a leased unit, the relief follows your money.
The reliefs
AIA vs full expensing: which relief applies
How the Annual Investment Allowance and full expensing differ, which expenditure each one covers, and when they can be combined.
Special rate pool vs main pool
Which assets fall into the 6% pool and which into the 18% pool, and why most commercial buildings fill the slower one first.
Structures and Buildings Allowance explained
The 3% relief for the parts of a building that are not plant, what it covers, and why splitting structure from plant is worth doing properly.
Buying and selling
Deferred tax and property disposal calculations
Balancing charges, balancing allowances and what happens to the tax you deferred when the property is sold.
Mandatory pooling on a property purchase
The pooling and fixed value requirements that decide whether a buyer can claim anything at all on a post-April-2014 purchase.
Selling without losing the relief
What a seller gives away in a section 198 election, and how to avoid signing away value at the last minute.
By property type
Hotels, pubs, restaurants and care homes
Why fit-out heavy properties tend to carry the largest unclaimed allowances, and what to look for in each.
Offices, retail and industrial warehouses
What typically qualifies in each of the three most common commercial property types, and where the differences actually are.
Property portfolios and landlord eligibility
How claims work across a portfolio, and what landlords can claim when a tenant funded the fit-out.
Making a claim
Capital allowance calculators and estimates
Why an online estimate is not a claim, what a real figure depends on, and what a survey establishes that a calculator cannot.
Choosing a capital allowances specialist
What a capital allowances surveyor actually does, what to ask before appointing one, and how to tell a real specialist from a reseller.
Filing a capital allowances claim with HMRC
Where a claim goes on the return, what evidence sits behind it, and the deadlines that decide whether it can be made at all.
Surveyor fees and how they are charged
Contingent fees, fixed fees and what each means for you if a claim turns out to be smaller than expected.