100% TAX DEDUCTION ON ALL EQUIPMENT ANNOUNCED IN BUDGET

Certainty about tax deduction – now set permanently at 100% – gives optical businesses the confidence to invest, to increase their clinical offering and to refit practices, says the OSA following this week’s Spring Budget. Manufacturing labs also enjoy the same degree of certainty when looking at new edging, surfacing and coating technology to produce spectacle lenses here in the UK.This policy of “full expensing” also allows businesses to deduct all of their spend on IT equipment and software.

OSA Director, Stuart Burn commented on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s statement –

“The Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) has seen a number of temporary increase extensions, with the latest due to expire at the end of this month.  The Government has announced that the AIA will be permanently set at £1 million. This permanent replacement provides a greater level of certainty to businesses and removes the complexity of changing amounts. It is intended to encourage confident business investment and will benefit optical and ophthalmology practices and manufacturing labs. Every pound a business invests in IT equipment, plant or machinery can be deducted in full and immediately from taxable profits.”

The Climate Change Agreement scheme remains for two years to allow eligible businesses £600 million of tax relief on energy efficiency measures. Fuel duty and VAT remain unchanged in the Budget.