Capital Allowances Act 2001 section 437

Research and development allowances

Section 437 establishes the availability of capital allowances for qualifying expenditure on research and development and defines what counts as research and development for this purpose.

• Capital allowances are available when a person incurs qualifying expenditure on research and development activities.
• Research and development means activities treated as such under generally accepted accounting practice, and also includes oil and gas exploration and appraisal.
• The definition is aligned with regulations made under section 1006 of ITA 2007, so any activities classified as research and development (or excluded from that classification) under those regulations carry the same status for capital allowances purposes.
• Before any allowances can be claimed, the expenditure must meet the qualifying criteria set out in this Part of the Act.