Aubrey Calderwood is managing director of leading fiscal incentives company, Gateley Capitus. He also previously ran the capital allowances practice of a ‘Big Four’ accountancy firm. He has a professional background in both taxation and property and has acted for some of the UK’s largest entities across a variety of sectors. Aubrey helps clients to understand, identify and claim the various fiscal tax incentives available for many forms of investment.
The AIA is a complicated calculation and is dependent on a combination of factors including the beginning and end of your financial year and when the expenditure is actually incurred. So for example, if you have a December year end and incur all of your expenditure in Jan 2013, you will get the full £250k AIA. However, if your financial year is April 2012 to 31 March 2013 and you incur your expenditure in Jan 2013, you will get a hybrid rate AIA. You will not get a further £250k AIA in Jan - Dec 2014 unless you incur a further tranche of qualifying AIA expenditure in that year. BPRA's are only available for the refurbishment of existing buildings in qualifying disadvantaged areas so you would have to check if your building is in such an area first of all. It then has to be vacant for at least a year before incurring any expenditure on it. It has also has to meet other criteria before qualifying for the relief. E-mail if you require further detail. [email protected]
I don't wish to comment on specific companies but as the MD of a company which has been specialising in this area for 16 years I have two observations to make.
Portal Tax Claims are but one of the legion of "new breed" capital allowances consultants that have come onto the scene in the last 2 or 3 years. By and large they are mainly from a financial services background used to selling financial products like mortgages, life assurance and PPI claims. They have excellent sales and marketing operations and we could learn a thing or two from them in that regard.
However, anecdotally, last year we were asked to comment on a capital allowances claim prepared by a "new breed" capital allowances firm by one of their unhappy clients. "New Breed" had claimed Integral Features for Lighting, Cold Water and Power. The client had bought the property in 2005. I will say no more about that - those who know will know.
“New Breed” generally offers attractive referral fees to accountants. The ICAEW at point 240.5 has this to say about referral fees - "
"Accepting such a referral fee or commission creates a self-interest threat to objectivity and professional competence and due care".
To safeguard against this threat they advise at point 240.7:
"Obtain advance agreement from the client for commission arrangements in connection with the sale by a third party of goods or services to the client"
I have no problem per se with referral fees. However, I wonder how many accountants who accept them actually disclose that they do to their clients?
My answers
Capital Allowances
The AIA is a complicated calculation and is dependent on a combination of factors including the beginning and end of your financial year and when the expenditure is actually incurred. So for example, if you have a December year end and incur all of your expenditure in Jan 2013, you will get the full £250k AIA. However, if your financial year is April 2012 to 31 March 2013 and you incur your expenditure in Jan 2013, you will get a hybrid rate AIA. You will not get a further £250k AIA in Jan - Dec 2014 unless you incur a further tranche of qualifying AIA expenditure in that year. BPRA's are only available for the refurbishment of existing buildings in qualifying disadvantaged areas so you would have to check if your building is in such an area first of all. It then has to be vacant for at least a year before incurring any expenditure on it. It has also has to meet other criteria before qualifying for the relief. E-mail if you require further detail. [email protected]
Disclosure of Referral Fees to Client
I don't wish to comment on specific companies but as the MD of a company which has been specialising in this area for 16 years I have two observations to make.
Portal Tax Claims are but one of the legion of "new breed" capital allowances consultants that have come onto the scene in the last 2 or 3 years. By and large they are mainly from a financial services background used to selling financial products like mortgages, life assurance and PPI claims. They have excellent sales and marketing operations and we could learn a thing or two from them in that regard.
However, anecdotally, last year we were asked to comment on a capital allowances claim prepared by a "new breed" capital allowances firm by one of their unhappy clients. "New Breed" had claimed Integral Features for Lighting, Cold Water and Power. The client had bought the property in 2005. I will say no more about that - those who know will know.
“New Breed” generally offers attractive referral fees to accountants. The ICAEW at point 240.5 has this to say about referral fees - "
"Accepting such a referral fee or commission creates a self-interest threat to objectivity and professional competence and due care".
To safeguard against this threat they advise at point 240.7:
"Obtain advance agreement from the client for commission arrangements in connection with the sale by a third party of goods or services to the client"
I have no problem per se with referral fees. However, I wonder how many accountants who accept them actually disclose that they do to their clients?