Capital Allowances Act 2001 section 379

Final writing-down allowance

Section 379 ensures that the holder of the relevant interest at the end of the writing-down period receives a final writing-down allowance that fully accounts for any unclaimed or lost allowances over the life of the asset.

• The final writing-down allowance is the allowance given to the person holding the relevant interest when the writing-down period ends, for the chargeable period in which it ends.
• If the final allowance would otherwise be less than the remaining residue of qualifying expenditure, it is increased to equal that residue — effectively a "catch-up" mechanism.
• When calculating the residue for this purpose, it is assumed that every person who held the relevant interest during the writing-down period was entitled to allowances and claimed them in full.
• The practical effect is to prevent allowances being permanently lost simply because of the way transfer rules operate when interests change hands during the writing-down period.