In addition to the proposed changes to R&D and speculation around the Government’s plans for shareholders of private companies, there wasn’t much else to note in this space other than the extension of the full expensing provisions.

Full expensing forever more

Introduced at the Budget 2023 as a temporary relief from 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2026 the full expensing provisions have now been made permanent (or as permanent as can be with a General Election looming near).

These apply to ‘main pool’ additions and were introduced to replace the temporary super deduction provisions introduced back in 2021.

At the same time, the 50% first year allowance (introduced alongside the full expensing provisions and applying to ‘special rate pool’ additions such as thermal insulation, long life assets and integral features) has been made permanent too.

It is worth noting that these provisions only apply to companies and that certain assets are excluded, including cars and assets for leasing. However, it was announced that a consultation will be opened to consider if these provisions can be extended to assets for leasing.

Aside from that, a wider technical consultation has been announced to consider the simplification of the entire capital allowances regime – it is yet to be seen how far this will go, but as an area of tax which is so significantly reliant upon case law, there is only so much simplification that one can expect.

If you would like to discuss this in further detail, please get in touch with your usual contact or e-mail us at experts@tacs.co.uk.