Capital Allowances Act 2001 section 91

Meaning of "long-life asset"

Section 91 defines what counts as a "long-life asset" for capital allowances purposes, based on the expected useful economic life of the plant or machinery.

• A long-life asset is plant or machinery that, when new, can reasonably be expected to have a useful economic life of at least 25 years.
• If the asset is second-hand, the test is whether it could reasonably have been expected to last at least 25 years when it was originally new.
• "New" simply means unused and not second-hand.
• Useful economic life runs from when the asset is first used by anyone for any purpose until it ceases to be used, or is unlikely to be used, by anyone as a fixed asset of a business.