Businesses need to act now before the Annual Investment Allowance drops

Businesses are encouraged to take full advantage of the half a million pound Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) available to them now before the rate drops at the start of next year.

This warning comes following the Chancellor’s Summer Budget statement in which he set the AIA at £200,000 for the life of the current Parliament from January 2016.

This amount is higher than the previous limit of £25,000, which was due to come into force at the start of next year, but is still less than half the amount of the current £500,000 limit.  The Allowance is designed to encourage investment by deducting the full value of an item that qualifies for (AIA) from a business’s pre-tax profits.

It applies to all plant and machinery equipment bought by a company, which includes alterations to existing buildings to install other plant and machinery and integral features, such as lifts, escalators and air-conditioning and air cooling systems.

While the chancellor may be hailing this as a victory for SMEs, there is no getting away from the fact that the allowance is still going down, even if it is not at such a drastic rate.  In order to make the most of the current allowance, businesses need to act now and submit any applications ahead of the deadline at the start of next year. Failing to do this could see them miss out on thousands of pounds of potential investment money.

For more information please contact Gill Lowcock.