Answering your tax questions

Will my Accountant be advising me on Capital Allowances?

A common question that we get asked by property owners is why their Accountants wouldn't be dealing with Capital Allowances. The important thing to remember is that when someone is consulting on specialist areas of tax, they carry with that a liability to ensure that the information provided is 100% accurate.

If you were to think of your Accountant as a general practice Doctor, and then think of a tax specialist as a Cardiothoracic Surgeon, the question is, who would you want to carry out your triple bypass?

Whilst most Accountants should be dealing with Capital Allowances on loose items such as desks and laptops, it is most unlikely that they will have under their remit a team of Chartered Surveyors to accurately inspect a property, or a team of dedicated property tax experts that have spent time studying the 100+ years of case law relating to Capital Allowances, or a specialist  team of forensic Accountants that work with Capital Allowances all day, every day!

This mix of specialist skills are what underpin an accurate and robust Capital Allowance claim.

Here is a deeper explanation of what goes into completing a robust Capital Allowance claim for our valued clients.

1st.
Our initial discussions will be based around validation. Our team will liaise with Land Registry to gain a better understanding of the property.We will check the property’s usage to ensure that there is qualifying activity to claim Capital Allowances. At the same time, our team will check with your Accountant to ensure you/your company are in the right position to benefit from a Capital Allowance claim.
For more recent purchases, we may need to contact the previous owners to get a Section 198 Election in place. This election is what moves these allowances from the vendor to the new owner and can sometimes require us to enter into negotiations on your behalf.
2nd.
3rd.
At this stage we are ready to organise a site visit from one of our surveyors who will quantify and value every item of plant either screwed, glued or embedded to the structure of the building, and even the structure itself. This, along with all photographic evidence will now be passed to our forensic Accountants for review.
Once all elements are complete and we have the required information from your Accountant, it is then time for our tax experts to to bring all the pieces of the puzzle together and summate the amount of new-found Capital Allowances available.
4th.
5th.
Once our work has been completed, we will send your report to your accountant to review and submit to HMRC.
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End point

We hope that you can now see why our work bears no negative reflection on your Accountant or their abilities, as no one can be a specialist in everything. However, it is your Accountant’s responsibility to ensure that that you are given the best advice possible when it comes to your tax affairs.

 Did you know:

In the UK Over 2 billion pounds goes completely unclaimed in Capital Allowances every year.

For a free, impartial discussion regarding your Capital Allowances, please submit your details by following 'Get Started' button below.

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