Group capital allowances under review
If your company is part of a group, or is connected to other companies, you may receive a letter asking you to check if you have overclaimed capital allowances. Why might this have happened and should you be worried?
The annual investment allowance ( AIA) gives 100% tax relief on qualifying expenditure up to a specific limit (currently £1m), most commonly for plant and machinery. Group companies and those under common control all have to share a single AIA, to prevent abuse of the relief. Additionally, if there is a short or long accounting period, the AIA is apportioned accordingly. These considerations may be overlooked, meaning excess claims can occur, e.g. where two group companies both claim £1m.
If you receive a letter, it does not automatically mean that you have overclaimed. Such large scale campaigns are based on mass data mining, which is far from perfect but gives HMRC a reasonable base with which to identify potential errors. You should firstly check that the correct amount of AIA has been claimed for the accounting period(s) specified in the letter. If you discover a mistake, it should be corrected within 30 days of the date of the letter. However, if the AIA has been claimed correctly, it is still necessary to confirm this to HMRC using the contact details provided in the letter, otherwise an enquiry may be opened.
Related Topics
-
Getting out of the child benefit tax trap
You expect to earn over £60,000 for this tax year which means you may have to pay back some or all of your family’s child benefit due to the high income child benefit charge (HICBC). Is it possible to reduce the charge?
-
HMRC targets “dodgy shops” in new compliance crackdown
The government has announced a new crackdown on businesses suspected of facilitating tax evasion, with HMRC increasing its focus on so-called "dodgy shops" used to enable tax fraud. What is HMRC targeting?
-
Mandatory payrolling of benefits in kind delayed
The government has revised plans to introduce the mandatory payrolling of benefits in kind from 6 April 2027, which will now be limited to company cars, vans, fuel and medical benefits. What's the full story?