O'Haras Accountancy

Other Tax Information

Capital allowances

taxinfo_imgFor assets acquired after 1 April 2010 for limited companies or 6 April 2010 for unincorporated businesses, the first £100,000 of expenditure on plant and machinery (other than cars) qualifies for 100% relief in the year of acquisition (previously £50,000 for assets acquired between 1 April 2008 / 6 April 2008 and 31 March 2010 / 5 April 2010). This is referred to as the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA). Any expenditure in excess of the £100,000 limit will enter the main capital allowances pool and will be eligible for writing down allowances (WDA's) .

Qualifying expenditure incurred on cars on or after 1 or 6 April 2009 is now be allocated to one of the two general plant and machinery pools. Cars with CO2 emissions exceeding 160 g/km will be dealt with in the special rate pool and attract writing down allowances (WDA) at 10%. Cars with emissions of 160 g/km or less will be added to the main rate pool and attract WDA at 20%. Expenditure incurred before April 2009 will continue to be subject to the old ‘expensive’ car rules for a transitional period of five years. Cars that have an element of non-business use will continue to be dealt with in single asset pools to enable the private use adjustment to be made, but the rate of WDA will be determined by the car’s CO2 emissions.