In Mrs CA Andrew v HMRC (TC00799 – 29 November) a publican purchased a gazebo which she placed in the garden of the public house to provide cover for customers who wished to smoke. She claimed capital allowances on the cost of the gazebo. HMRC rejected the claim on the basis that the gazebo had become part of the premises and was therefore not ‘plant’. The First-Tier Tribunal allowed the publican’s appeal holding that the gazebo was ‘plant’ and observing that ‘regarded as a whole it is more appropriate to call it apparatus than to call it premises’.
Why it matters: This is a useful decision on the definition of ‘plant’. HMRC had contended that the gazebo had become part of the premises of the public house and therefore failed to qualify for capital allowances (because premises are not ‘plant’). The Tribunal had little difficulty in...