The Claim Procedure

Schedules of qualifying expenditure for capital allowances are usually submitted by the accountants to the Inland Revenue when the Tax Returns are submitted.

Under the self-assessment regime, Inland Revenue guidelines are such that the Inspector of Taxes is not obligated to formally agree any tax computations. In general terms, if no enquiries have been raised by the Inspector of Taxes within 12 months of the deadline date for submission of the Tax Returns, the computations are generally deemed to have been agreed.

The Inspector of Taxes may however pass the claim to the Valuation Office, which consists of the District Valuer for views on land costs (on purchased properties) and the Regional Building Surveyor for views on construction costs and approval of the formula adopted for the claim.

If there is a significant difference between the Valuation Office's assessment and the submitted claim, the Inspector of Taxes will then instruct the Valuation Office to open negotiations in order to reach an agreement.

The process is open ended in terms of time, and it is impossible to advise as to when an agreement can be anticipated, however in our experience most claims are generally agreed within 12-18 months of their submission.

PJB are in regular contact with Inspectors of Taxes, and the Valuation Office and endeavour to seek agreements to the claims at the earliest possible opportunities.