Q. My client runs a storage business that rents shipping containers as storage units. They are not fixed in place, and they are moved around and connected together if a client wants a larger storage area. They would also be open to the idea of allowing a client to take their rented container to their own premises for storage, though no one has done this currently. How can we argue that capital allowances will be available on the containers?

A. In order to claim capital allowances on an asset it must be plant or machinery. The shipping containers do not meet the definition of machinery, but they might meet the definition of plant.