Capital allowances for structures, assets and works

Capital allowances claims for real estate can often run into difficulty because an asset may qualify as ‘plant’ under case law but be disqualified by CAA 2001 as ‘buildings’ (s 21) or ‘structures or other assets’ (s 22). In SSE Generation Ltd, the Upper Tribunal considered the availability of allowances for a civil engineering project. It held that: case law should be considered before these legislative provisions; capital allowances terms should take their ordinary meanings unless that results in a perverse outcome; and works involving the alteration of land are disqualified if that is the objective in its own right, but not if they are part of the provision of a qualifying asset.