HMRC updates guidance for claiming new allowance
Qualifying expenditure on plant and machinery can qualify for a 40% first-year allowance from 1 January 2026. HMRC has now updated its guidance to help make claims. What do you need to do?
The new 40% first-year allowance (FYA) is available to companies as well as unincorporated businesses. Perhaps the biggest winners will be companies that purchase assets and lease them out, as these assets are excluded from full expensing, and so 100% relief is limited to the £1 million annual investment allowance. Until this year, the only option for relieving any excess was through writing down allowances on a reducing balance basis. A claim needs to be made on the corporation tax return, but HMRC’s corporation tax online service will not be updated for the new allowance until 2027. A company that wants to make a claim in the meantime, e.g. one with a year end of 31 March 2026 filing this year, will need to use a workaround. HMRC has now updated its guidance, saying that claimants should use:
- boxes 725 or 750 for claim amounts
- box 760 for qualifying expenditure
Related Topics
-
Founders' relief: a closer look
The Budget's new Founders' Relief sounds remarkably generous, offering a 10% capital gains tax rate on up to £10 million of gains from selling shares from April 2027. However, a closer look at the proposed qualifying conditions suggests that relatively few business owners will benefit. Why might the relief be so difficult to claim?
-
MONTHLY FOCUS: 2026 BUDGET SPECIAL
Budget 2026 contains a mixture of tax rises, new reliefs and changes to the way businesses and individuals will be taxed from 2027 onwards. Savings and property income will face higher rates, the lifetime limit for Business Asset Disposal Relief will fall, a new founders' relief is planned and several allowances and business incentives are changing. Which measures matter most, and is there anything you should do before they take effect?
-
Autumn Budget 2026 – what are the key tax announcements?
The Chancellor delivered the Autumn Budget on 28 October, announcing a mixture of tax increases, new reliefs and changes to the way tax is administered. Although the headline rates of income tax, National Insurance (NI) and VAT remain unchanged, there are some significant changes affecting business owners, landlords and private individuals. What are the main announcements?




This website uses both its own and third-party cookies to analyze our services and navigation on our website in order to improve its contents (analytical purposes: measure visits and sources of web traffic). The legal basis is the consent of the user, except in the case of basic cookies, which are essential to navigate this website.