Capital Allowances Act 2001 section 3

Claims for capital allowances

Section 3 sets out how capital allowances must be claimed, requiring that all claims be made through a tax return, with additional requirements for certain types of allowances and specific exceptions to the general rule.

• Capital allowances are never given automatically — a formal claim must be made and included in the relevant tax return (self-assessment return for income tax, or company tax return for corporation tax).
• Claims for first-year allowances on plant and machinery used in freeport tax sites, and claims for structures and buildings allowances relating to freeport qualifying expenditure, must include or be accompanied by whatever additional information HMRC requires.
• Claims for structures and buildings allowances and business premises renovation allowances must be separately identified as such within the tax return.
• Certain income tax and corporation tax claims — such as those for special leasing of plant or machinery and patent allowances on non-trading expenditure — are not made through the tax return but instead follow separate statutory claims procedures, and special rules also apply to partnerships.