This month's review of tax cases and tax news including advisory fuel rates from 1 September 2018, capital allowance claim part allowed on £300m SSE hydroelectric scheme, HMRC biometric phone recordings under fire
Capital allowance claim part allowed on £300m SSE hydroelectric scheme
The First Tier Tribunal (FTT) in SSE Generation Ltd v Revenue & Customs [2018] UKFTT 416 considered an appeal by SSE Generation Ltd (SSE) regarding the treatment, for capital allowance purposes, of various parts of a hydroelectric power generation scheme at Glendoe, near Loch Ness in Scotland (the scheme).
The total cost of building the scheme (including rectification works) was £300m. SSE claimed capital allowances on £260m of that expenditure, but HMRC refused to process £227m of the claim and would only accept a much reduced figure of £34m.
SSE argued that all the items in dispute were items of plant and as such expenditure on all of them was allowable under Capital Allowances Act 2001 (CAA 2001). HMRC argued that the expenditure was disqualified from allowances by either CAA 2001, s21 or s22, and the savings in List C ins23 did not apply.
