Currently, there are millions of commercial property owners that are sitting on a wealth of unclaimed tax relief due to a variety of (mostly) avoidable reasons. As a commercial property owner, it is important to identify how to claim the Capital Allowances available to you and to employ specialists, such as us, to make a claim for you. Here are the top five reasons why many property owners have missed out on a claim.
Expecting accountants to make a claim
Many commercial property owners are under the impression that their accountant will have made a capital allowance claim for them, however this is unlikely because this is such a specialised area of tax that requires the additional input of both qualified surveyors and tax advisors with a different skill set and detailed knowledge of the up-to-date legislation. Expecting an accountant to specialise in an area they are not experienced in would be similar to expecting a dentist to be able to perform as an orthodontist.
The Finance Bill 2012
Since the introduction of the Finance Bill 2012, many commercial property must ensure that Capital Allowances are identified at the point of sale in order to claim the maximum tax relief they are entitled to. Since the transitional period ended in April 2014, there is a new obligation on the seller and buyer of commercial property to agree the Capital Allowances position in order to make a successful claim. Once our specialist team advise property owners and their solicitors of this, they are able to claim thousands of pounds of tax relief that is theirs by right.
Inaccurate elections being submitted
In the past, CAA 2001 s198 (freehold) and CAA 2001 s199 (leasehold) elections have often been completed with inaccurate information or with historical detail not being taken into account and sent to HMRC. However, we can work with commercial property owners and their solicitors to avoid any legal and commercial consequences as a result of inaccurate elections. We can advise property owners on how to submit accurate elections, taking into account all the relevant details, therefore allowing the owner to receive the maximum tax relief available.
Not believing that this is a genuine tax scheme
One of the most common things we hear commercial property owners state is ‘this is too good to be true’, or, ‘this sounds like a tax loophole’. It is important to be aware that HMRC introduced Capital Allowances as an incentive to encourage investment into commercial property and to kick start the economy. Tens of thousands of Capital Allowance claims are processed by HMRC every year, and we have a 100% approval rating with having claims accepted by HMRC.
Not having enough time to make a claim
Claiming for Embedded Capital Allowances requires minimum input from the commercial property owner, and maximum output from us, the Capital Allowance specialists. We deal with all the hard work, whilst the property owner simply provides the basic details of the property. The process usually takes around 6-10 weeks, during which we send out one of our specialist surveyors and a specialist tax advisor who will create a report to submit to HMRC.
