TTM10520 - Ship Leasing: Quantitative restrictions on allowances

Restrictions cease to apply: Example

The following example was when the written down allowance for main rate pool was 25% and the special rate pool was 10%.  The current rates are 18% and 6% respectively.

A ferry is acquired on 1 January 2004 by Selpats Ferries Ltd (a tonnage tax company) under a finance lease from their bank.  The cost of the ship is £90 million.

On 30 June 2006 Selpats Ferries Ltd is taken over by the larger Regian Group of companies (which is not within tonnage tax). Under the rules on mergers, see TTM12300, Selpats Ferries Ltd ceases to be a tonnage tax company and the leasing restrictions cease to apply from 30 June 2006.

The capital allowances available to the bank are as follows (amounts in £000s):

Accounting period ended 31 December 2004

£’00025% pool10% poolNon-qualifyingTotal allowances
Cost (90,000, allocated)400004000010000-
WDA100004000014000
Balance c/fwd 18/02/8230000360001000076000

Accounting period ended 31 December 2005

£’00025% pool10% poolNon-qualifyingTotal allowances
Balance b/fwd30000360001000076000
WDA75003600011,100
Balance c/fwd22500324001000064900

Accounting period ended 31 December 2006

As at 30/06/2006 the leasing restrictions stop applying. The ship is treated as disposed of as at 30/06/2006 for its tax written-down value at that point.  In this case the tax written down value (TWDV) is worked out by recomputing notional capital allowances for the period on the full ‘qualifying expenditure’ (FA00/SCH22/PARA89 (3) and PARA88 (1)) of £90 million, as if in a single asset pool FA00/SCH22/PARA100):
 

£’000notional single asset pool
Cost90000
Notional WDA for ye 31/12/200422500
Balance c/fwd and b/fwd67500
Notional WDA for y/e 31/12/200516875
Balance c/fwd & b/fwd50625
Notional WDA for 6m 30/6/20066328
TWDV44,297


This tax written down value of £44,297,000 is treated as if it were a normal disposal and apportioned between the 25% and 10% pools in same proportion as the original cost of the ship (FA00/SCH22/PARA97):

PoolProportion of TWDVAllocated to pool
25% pool44,297 x 40,000/90,00019688
10% pool44,297 x 40,000/90,00019688
Non-qualifying44,297 x 10,000/90,0004921

Assuming that the bank has no other ships leased within tonnage tax, the 25% and 10% pools will be closed, with balancing adjustments as follows:

(£’000)25% pool10% pool Total
Balance b/fwd2250032400-
Disposal proceeds-19688-19688-
Balancing allowance28121271215,524

The bank can then bring a new amount of qualifying expenditure into its normal machinery and plant pool in respect of the ferry.  That amount is the original £90 million cost of the ferry reduced at a rate of 25% per year from acquisition on 1 January 2004 to 30 June 2006 (FA00/SCH22/PARA99 (3) and (4)), that is, £44,297,000, as computed above.

The writing down allowance for the bank’s accounting period ended 31 December 2003 (after the CAA01/S220 (1)) restriction) will be:

£44,297,000 x 6/12 x 25% = £5,537,125

References

  • FA00/SCH22/PARA99 (change of circumstances, taking out)  TTM17571
  • FA00/SCH22/PARA100 (determination of tax written down value)  TTM17576
  • FA00/SCH22/PARA97 (treatment of disposal proceeds)  TTM17561
  • FA00/SCH22/PARA89 (expressions same meaning as in FA00/PART9) TTM17486
  • FA00/SCH22/PARA88(1) (definition of ‘qualifying expenditure’)  TTM17481
  • Restrictions cease to apply: Introduction  TTM10500
  • Restrictions cease to apply: Procedure  TTM10510
  • Tax written down value  TTM10530