If you’ve bought or are thinking about buying assets for your business, you might be able to claim tax relief on them through the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA). Fill in our 3-minute eligibility checker on this page to see your asset finance funding options. We’ll show you the best finance for your situation and support you through the whole process – from your first enquiry to money in the bank and beyond.
Get working capitalIf you’ve bought or are thinking about buying assets for your business, you might be able to claim tax relief on them through the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA).
Fill in our 3-minute eligibility checker on this page to see your asset finance funding options. We’ll show you the best finance for your situation and support you through the whole process – from your first enquiry to money in the bank and beyond.
The AIA gives businesses a way to claim tax relief on some assets. If you buy plant and machinery for your business, the AIA allows you to deduct the cost of that asset from your profit for that year before working out how much tax you’re due to pay on that profit.
In January 2019 the government introduced an increase to the amount businesses can claim in plant and machinery costs through the AIA. You can now invest up to £1million and claim tax relief up to that amount – previously the limit was £200,000.
On 12 November 2020, the UK Government announced that the AIA £1 million temporary cap will be extended until 1 January 2022.
The temporary £1 million cap was originally due to revert to £200,000 on 1 January 2021. The Government says that the extension is designed to 'boost confidence as companies look to weather the pandemic and plan for the future'.
Businesses can claim on the following assets for the AIA:
Vans/ lorries
Office equipment – including furniture, computers, computer hardware and some types of software
Some building fixtures – like fitted kitchens, bathroom fittings and air conditioning
‘Integral features’ for your business premises – including things like heating, electrical systems, water systems, lifts, escalators and lighting systems
CCTV systems and fire alarms
It doesn’t matter whether you own or rent the building you’re claiming assets for, but only the person who bought the item can claim the AIA on that item.
Assets that aren’t eligible for the AIA include:
Other structures like bridges
Land
Anything you lease through your business – you must own the item to claim the AIA
Assets given to your business that you didn’t pay for
Assets that you owned for another reason before you started using them for your business
Following the 2007/08 Financial Crisis, the UK government wanted to stimulate the economy and do as much as possible to help businesses grow. They brought in the AIA to encourage businesses to invest in machinery and other assets. This was to give businesses the ability to do more work themselves with those new assets, and to give a boost to other businesses – i.e. the businesses from which assets like machinery could be bought.
Check your asset finance funding options with our 3-minute eligibility checker on this page – it’s free and there’s no obligation!