Capital Allowances

You could be sitting on thousands of pounds of unclaimed tax relief.

If your business has bought, built, extended or refurbished a commercial property, there may be significant tax relief hidden within the cost of that investment.

Capital Allowances are a government tax relief designed to encourage businesses to invest. If your business has invested in a property, equipment or improvements, qualifying expenditure can potentially be deducted from taxable profits, reducing the amount of tax you pay.

The opportunity can be much bigger than simply identifying a few pieces of equipment.

Electrical systems, heating, ventilation, water systems, lighting, security, specialist installations, fixtures and other qualifying features can all form part of a claim and so much more.

There may also be additional relief through the Structures and Buildings Allowance (SBA) on qualifying expenditure relating to the building itself.

You’ve already spent the money. Have you claimed everything you can?

Look beyond the invoices

The paperwork doesn’t always tell the whole story.

Builders and contractors can bundle numerous individual works into a single invoice, sometimes providing little detail about exactly what has been supplied and installed.

A refurbishment invoice, for example, could cover electrical work, lighting, heating, plumbing and specialist installations without separately identifying each element.

If you only assess the paperwork, some qualifying expenditure can be difficult to identify.

That’s why BSUK includes a physical site visit as part of the assessment.

We inspect the property and photograph what is actually installed, creating a detailed record that can be considered alongside the financial and project information.

The aim is to identify the qualifying elements within the investment, not simply the items that happen to be clearly described on an invoice.

What could be hiding in your property?

Depending on the property and expenditure, we may identify qualifying items such as:

Electrical installations and upgrades
Heating and hot water systems
Air conditioning and ventilation
Cold water systems
Lighting
Solar PV
EV charging equipment
Fire, alarm and security systems
Lifts and other vertical transport
Fitted kitchens and bathrooms
Specialist installations and equipment
Fixtures and fittings, and much more

In our experience, we generally identify qualifying Capital Allowances equivalent to around 15-25% of a property’s value, although every property and project is different.

A complete assessment for your accountant

BSUK manages the technical assessment and provides your accountant with a full, documented claim report.

Site assessment
The property is inspected and qualifying items are identified and photographed.

Financial analysis
Invoices, contracts, accounts and other available information are reviewed alongside the site findings.

Calculations
Qualifying expenditure is categorised and the relevant calculations completed.

Detailed report
We provide a comprehensive report setting out the findings, supporting photographic evidence and calculations behind the claim.

Accountant support
Your accountant receives everything they need to prepare and submit the claim to HMRC. If HMRC subsequently raises questions about the assessment, we remain available to discuss the findings and support your accountant.

You get a properly evidenced assessment without having to manage the technical work yourself.

Don’t overlook the building itself

The Structures and Buildings Allowance (SBA) provides tax relief on qualifying expenditure relating to the construction, conversion or renovation of qualifying non-residential buildings.

The current rate is 3% per year on a straight-line basis, meaning qualifying expenditure can generally be relieved over 33⅓ years.

This means a property project can potentially contain two distinct areas of relief:

Capital Allowances
Potential relief on qualifying plant, machinery, fixtures and integral features.

Structures and Buildings Allowance
Potential relief on qualifying expenditure relating to the building itself.

Looking at both can give you a more complete picture of the tax relief potentially available.

Could your property investment contain more tax relief than you realise?

Talk to BSUK about Capital Allowances and Structures and Buildings Allowance.

book a meeting

Why the site visit matters

A site inspection gives the assessment something that invoices alone cannot: a record of what is physically present within the property.

This is particularly important where contractors have grouped multiple works together or where older project records provide limited detail or may no longer exist.

Photographic evidence helps document the items identified and supports the findings set out in the final report.

Real property projects. Real tax opportunities.

Previous assessments have identified qualifying expenditure such as:

Bar & Restaurant
£955,897 refurbishment → £488,608 qualifying expenditure

Nursing Home
£750,000 purchase → £104,584 qualifying expenditure

Motor Workshop & Offices
£670,000 build cost → £188,010 qualifying expenditure

Office
£124,999 purchase → £26,576 qualifying expenditure

These examples demonstrate why it can be worth looking beyond the headline property cost and examining the individual elements within the investment.

Have you invested in a commercial property?

Whether you’ve bought, built, extended, refurbished or invested in improving a commercial property, it is worth establishing whether qualifying expenditure has been identified.

Even if your accountant has previously considered Capital Allowances, it is worth asking whether the property itself was physically inspected.

BSUK can assess the property, identify and document qualifying expenditure, complete the calculations and provide your accountant with a full report ready for submission to HMRC.

You’ve already made the investment. Now find out what tax relief may be available from it.

Talk to BSUK about Capital Allowances and Structures and Buildings Allowance.

book a meeting