Contents
Borrowed clothes?
You want it when?
The daily grind
Knock knock
Computers@home
Stick to the facts
It's personal
Expense claims
Cash down
Plant buying
Hobson's choice
A helping hand
Education, education
Up with the Joneses
Bills bills bills
Done to a crisp
Tax association
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This year's Budget announced that the rules for capital allowances - tax relief for plant and equipment - will change significantly for small and medium-sized businesses from 1 April 2008. At the moment, a small business gets a 50% deduction for expenditure on most equipment in year 1, then 25% tax depreciation on what's left in later years. Cars only get the depreciation, not the first year allowance, and the maximum is £3,000 a year. The new rules aren't final yet, but two main changes seem very likely. First year allowances will go, replaced by an "investment allowance". That's effectively a 100% deduction for expenditure of up to £50,000 on plant in a year. Anything over that will get depreciation, but the rate of writing down will drop to 20%. Expenditure on cars still won't qualify for the investment allowance. So... if you plan to buy some plant around the end of March, the sums could be quite complicated - particularly if 31 March is also your year-end. There won't be a hard and fast rule for whether it's better to buy before or after the rule change - it will depend on the numbers. We will be happy to crunch them for you!  |