Capital Allowances Act 1990

24 Writing-down allowances and balancing adjustments

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part, where—

(a) a person carrying on a trade has incurred capital expenditure on the provision of machinery or plant wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade, and

(b) in consequence of his incurring that expenditure, the machinery or plant belongs or has belonged to him,

allowances and charges shall be made to and on him in accordance with the following provisions of this section.

(2) Subject to subsection (3) below, for any chargeable period for which a person within subsection (1) above has qualifying expenditure which exceeds any disposal value to be brought into account in accordance with subsection (6) below, there shall be made to him —

(a) unless the period is the chargeable period related to the permanent discontinuance of the trade, an allowance (“a writing-down allowance”) equal to—

(i) 25 per cent. of the excess, or

(ii) a proportionately reduced percentage of the excess if the period is part only of a year, or if the period is a year of assessment but the trade has been carried on for part only of that year;

(b) if the period is the chargeable period related to the permanent discontinuance of the trade, an allowance (“a balancing allowance”) equal to the whole of the excess.

(3) A claim for a writing-down allowance to be made for any chargeable period in connection with a trade carried on by a person other than a company may require that the amount of the allowance be reduced to an amount specified in that behalf in the claim.

(4) For any chargeable period for which a company has qualifying expenditure, the company may, by notice given to the inspector not later than two years after the end of that period, either disclaim a writing-down allowance or require that the allowance be reduced to an amount specified in that behalf in the notice; and all such assessments and adjustments of assessments shall be made as may be necessary to give effect to this subsection.

(5) For any chargeable period for which a person’s qualifying expenditure is less than the disposal value which he is to bring into account, there shall be made on him a charge (“a balancing charge”), and the amount on which the charge is made shall be an amount equal to the difference.

(6) The disposal value to be brought into account by a person for any chargeable period is the disposal value of all machinery or plant—

(a) on the provision of which for the purposes of the trade he has incurred capital expenditure; and

(b) which belongs to him at some time in the chargeable period or its basis period; and

(c) in respect of which, in the chargeable period or its basis period, one of the following events occurs, namely—

(i) the machinery or plant ceases to belong to him;

(ii) he loses possession of the machinery or plant in circumstances where it is reasonable to assume that the loss is permanent or, in the case of machinery or plant which was in use for mineral exploration and access, he abandons the machinery or plant at the site where it was in use for that purpose;

(iii) the machinery or plant ceases to exist as such (as a result of destruction, dismantling or otherwise);

(iv) the machinery or plant begins to be used wholly or partly for purposes which are other than those of the trade;

(v) the trade is permanently discontinued (or is treated by virtue of any provision of the Tax Acts as permanently discontinued);

and that is the first such event to occur;

but this subsection shall not require a person to bring into account the disposal value of any machinery or plant which he disposes of by way of gift in such circumstances that there is a charge to tax under Schedule E.