Capital Allowances Act 2001

Chapter 3 Allowances and charges

456 Pooling of expenditure

(1) Qualifying expenditure has to be pooled for the purpose of determining a person’s entitlement to writing-down allowances and balancing allowances and liability to balancing charges.

(2) There is a separate pool for each trade in respect of which the person has qualifying expenditure.

457 Determination of entitlement or liability

(1) Whether a person is entitled to a writing-down allowance or a balancing allowance, or liable to a balancing charge, for a chargeable period is determined separately for each pool of qualifying expenditure and depends on—

(a) the available qualifying expenditure in that pool for that period (“AQE”), and

(b) the total of any disposal values to be brought into account in that pool for that period (“TDV”).

(2) If AQE exceeds TDV, the person is entitled to a writing-down allowance or a balancing allowance for the period.

(3) If TDV exceeds AQE, the person is liable to a balancing charge for the period.

(4) The entitlement under subsection (2) is to a writing-down allowance except for the final chargeable period when it is to a balancing allowance.

(5) The final chargeable period is the chargeable period in which the trade is permanently discontinued.

458 Amount of allowances and charges

(1) The amount of the writing-down allowance to which a person is entitled for a chargeable period is 25% of the amount by which AQE exceeds TDV.

(2) If the chargeable period is more or less than a year, the amount is proportionately increased or reduced.

(3) If the trade has been carried on for part only of the chargeable period, the amount is proportionately reduced.

(4) A person claiming a writing-down allowance may require the allowance to be reduced to a specified amount.

(5) The amount of the balancing charge to which a person is liable for a chargeable period is the amount by which TDV exceeds AQE.

(6) The amount of the balancing allowance to which a person is entitled for the final chargeable period is the amount by which AQE exceeds TDV.

459 Available qualifying expenditure

A person’s available qualifying expenditure in a pool for a chargeable period consists of—

(a) any qualifying expenditure allocated to the pool for that period in accordance with section 460, and

(b) any unrelieved qualifying expenditure carried forward in the pool from the previous chargeable period under section 461.

460 Allocation of qualifying expenditure to pools

(1) The following rules apply to the allocation of a person’s qualifying expenditure to a pool.

(2) An amount of qualifying expenditure is not to be allocated to the pool for a chargeable period if that amount has been taken into account in determining the person’s available qualifying expenditure for an earlier chargeable period.

(3) Qualifying expenditure is not to be allocated to the pool for a chargeable period before that in which the expenditure is incurred.

461 Unrelieved qualifying expenditure

(1) A person has unrelieved qualifying expenditure to carry forward from a chargeable period if for that period AQE exceeds TDV.

(2) The amount of the unrelieved qualifying expenditure is—

(a) the excess less the writing-down allowance made for the period, or

(b) if no writing-down allowance is claimed for the period, the excess.

(3) No amount may be carried forward as unrelieved qualifying expenditure from the final chargeable period.

462 Disposal values

(1) A person is required to bring a disposal value into account for the chargeable period in which he sells know-how on which he has incurred qualifying expenditure.

(2) The disposal value to be brought into account is the net proceeds of the sale, so far as they consist of capital sums.

(3) But no disposal value need be brought into account if the consideration received for the sale is treated as a payment for goodwill under section 531(2) of ICTA (consideration for know-how on disposal of trade to be treated as payment for goodwill, unless parties otherwise elect).

463 Giving effect to allowances and charges

An allowance or charge to which a person is entitled or liable under this Part for a chargeable period is to be given effect in calculating the profits of the trade, by treating—

(a) the allowance as an expense of the trade, and

(b) the charge as a receipt of the trade.