Capital Allowances Act 1990

61 Machinery and plant on lease

(1) Subject to subsection (2) below, where machinery or plant is first let by any person otherwise than in the course of a trade, then, whether or not it is used for the purposes of a trade carried on by the lessee—

(a) the capital expenditure incurred by the lessor in providing the machinery or plant shall be treated for the purposes of this Part as having been incurred in providing it for the purposes of a trade begun to be carried on by him, separately from any other trade which he may carry on, at the commencement of the letting, and

(b) at the time when the lessor permanently ceases to let the machinery or plant otherwise than in the course of a trade, the machinery or plant shall be treated for the purposes of this Part as being used wholly for purposes other than those of the trade referred to in paragraph (a) above.

(2) Subsection (1) above shall not apply to machinery or plant let for use in a dwelling-house.

(3) Where subsection (1) above applies, the question whether the provision of the machinery or plant is to be treated as being wholly and exclusively or only partly for the purposes of the trade referred to in paragraph (a) of that subsection shall be determined according to whether the machinery or plant was in fact provided wholly and exclusively for the purpose of letting otherwise than in the course of a trade or only partly for that purpose.

(4) Where—

(a) a lessee incurs capital expenditure on the provision for the purposes of a trade carried on by him of machinery or plant which he is required to provide under the terms of the lease, and

(b) the machinery or plant is not so installed or otherwise fixed in or to a building or any other description of land as to become, in law, part of that building or other land,

then, if the machinery or plant would not otherwise belong to him, the machinery or plant shall be treated for the purposes of this Part as belonging to him for so long as it continues to be used for the purposes of the trade; but, as from the determination of the lease, section 24(6) shall have effect as if the capital expenditure on providing the machinery or plant had been incurred by the lessor and not by the lessee.

In relation to any lease entered into before 12th July 1984, and any lease entered into after 11th July 1984 pursuant to an agreement made before 12th July 1984, this subsection shall have effect with the omission of the words from “and” (where it first occurs) to “belong to him”.

(5) Where an allowance falling to be made for any chargeable period by virtue of subsection (1) above is in respect of expenditure on the provision of machinery or plant which for the whole or any part of that period or its basis period is not used for the purposes of a trade carried on by the lessee, section 145(3) shall not apply to that allowance or, as the case may require, to a proportionate part thereof.

(6) Subsection (5) above shall not apply to any allowance in respect of expenditure incurred on the provision of machinery or plant which is fixed to a building or land of which the person who incurs the expenditure is the lessor and the circumstances are such that a transfer of his interest in the building or land would operate to transfer his interest in the machinery or plant.

(7) Section 403(3) of the principal Act (group relief) shall not apply to an allowance if or to the extent that, by virtue of subsection (5) above, section 145(3) does not apply to it.

This subsection has effect in any case where the accounting period of the surrendering company (within the meaning of Chapter IV of Part X of the principal Act) ends after 26th July 1989.

(8) In this section “lease” includes an agreement for a lease where the term to be covered by the lease has begun, and any tenancy, but does not include a mortgage, and “lessee” and other cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly.