Capital allowances when you sell an asset

When you sell or ‘dispose of’ something you claimed capital allowances on, include the value in your calculations for the accounting period you sell it in.

You do not need to do this if you give it to a charity or community amateur sports club (CASC).

Dispose of an asset

You dispose of an asset if you:

  • sell it
  • give it away as a gift or transfer it to someone else
  • swap it for something else
  • get compensation for it - like an insurance payout if it’s been lost or destroyed
  • use it for anything other than your business
  • close your business

Work out the value

The value is usually how much you sold it for.

Use the market value (the amount you’d expect to sell it for) if you:

  • gave it away
  • kept it to use for something other than your business
  • sold it for less than it was worth to someone who’s unable to claim allowances

If you originally claimed 100% of the item

Add the full value to your profits in your tax return if both of the following apply:

This is known as a ‘balancing charge’.

If you have a balance in the pool your item qualifies for

Deduct the full value from that pool if you originally claimed 100% of the item and you have a balance in the pool your item qualifies for.

Add the difference to your profits in your tax return if the value of the item is more than the amount in your pool. This is a ‘balancing charge’.

If there’s a balance left in your pool, you can claim writing down allowances on it.

If you originally used writing down allowances

If you used writing down allowances when you bought an item, deduct the value from the pool you originally added it to.

Use the amount that’s left to work out your next writing down allowances.

For items in single asset pools, claim any amount that’s left as a capital allowance. Do this in your tax return. The leftover amount is known as a ‘balancing allowance’.

If the value you deduct is more than the balance in the pool, add the difference to your profit. This is a balancing charge.

You can only get a balancing allowance in your main or special rate pool when you close your business. You can get a balancing charge in any pool in any year.

If you sell it for more than it cost you

You can only deduct the original cost of the item even if you sell it for more.

If a connected person sold it to you for less than it cost them, deduct either how much you sell it for or how much it cost them - whichever’s smaller.

Add the difference to your profits in your tax return if the value of the item is more than the amount in your pool. This is a balancing charge.

Connected people

Connected people include your:

  • husband, wife or civil partner and their relatives
  • relatives and their husbands, wives or civil partners
  • business partners and their husbands, wives, civil partners and relatives

Your company is connected with another company if you:

  • control them both
  • are connected with a person who controls the other company
  • are part of a group that controls both companies

If you originally claimed super-deduction or special rate first-year allowances

Check how to work out the ‘balancing charge’ when you sell an asset you claimed super-deduction or special rate first-year allowances on.

If you originally claimed full expensing or 50% first-year allowances

Check how to work out the ‘balancing charge’ when you sell an asset you claimed full expensing or 50% first- year allowance on.

If you close your business

In the year you close your business, enter a balancing charge or a balancing allowance on your tax return instead of claiming capital allowances.

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