Brokers could reclaim thousands

Following the 2012 Finance Bill, Portal Tax, a specialist in the field of capital allowances, is advising brokers that for clients owning their own commercial property both current and previous installations can be claimed against tax, using capital allowances, but that they should be done before April 2014.

Not just larger commercial properties but also smaller ones are being told that they could claim back tens of thousands of pounds using capital allowances.

Shaun Murphy, managing director of Portal Tax, said: “In the current climate property owners need to save every penny that they can and, at the moment, most are unaware that such valuable capital allowances are waiting to be claimed.

“Literally hundreds of billions of pounds are due to owners but most lack the necessary expertise to make the claim which can be a complicated process.

“As we only make a charge if successful, we would urge any broker to advise their client to give us a call as they have nothing to lose and have potentially tens of thousands of pounds to gain.

“Also brokers get a commission fee of, on average, £1,000, for every case they refer to us.”

The 2012 Finance Bill introduced a transitional period which runs until April 2014. If a commercial property is sold within this period then it can be treated in the same way it would have been previously.

Before April 2012 you could choose when, and whether, you made a capital allowances claim on surgery.

The commercial property owner does not have to make a claim for capital allowances before he/she concludes the transaction, but they will have to agree to the fixed value requirement within 2 years.

The next time the property is sold the new rules apply and capital allowances must be considered as if it were post April 2014.

If the current owner acts now they can claim the full capital allowances back for themselves. If they do nothing, a future owner of the property may benefit instead.

Portal Tax has helped businesses to maximise any capital allowance claims on their commercial property - on average, £105,000 for each business in outstanding capital allowance for items ranging from fire alarm systems, to heating, to air conditioning.