HMRC: Unclaimed property tax allowances may exceed £2bn

Research by HMRC has estimated that there potentially £2.1bn has gone begging since April last year.

The numbers were based on a survey of nearly 115,000 commercial property transactions that have taken place in this time. A tenth of these properties are expected to have qualified for Capital Allowances (CAs) in excess £500,000.

It is thought that around £10-11bn of property transactions could be eligible for CAs of at least 20%. This would result in total relief of £2bn or more.

Enterprise Tax Centre’s Property Tax expert Angela Wood said that any owner of commercial property who had let their reliefs “slip through the door would be kicking themselves.”

She went on to say that “perhaps surprisingly, there is still a general lack of awareness of claiming Capital Allowances on property transactions. As a result, property owners are missing out on perhaps receiving a crisp cheque from HMRC – and how often do you receive one of those!”