Developers could be losing out on significant levels of tax relief thanks to a hat-trick of missed opportunities, according to Jamie Rogers, partner at cost and construction consultants Rider Levett Bucknall.
The warning is issued in light of the Government’s land remediation tax laws that came into force in 2001.
The three areas that have been highlighted include grey areas within the legislation that are presenting a window of opportunity, the fact that many developers remain unaware of the total benefit available to them and finally, the timing issue means that some developers are missing out on tax relief altogether by holding back on their application for relief.
Land Remediation relief is available to companies incurring expenditure on the remediation of land and buildings that are in a contaminated state.
The tax relief may be available for contamination problems in the ground and buildings where harmful substances need to be remediated. The rate of relief is 150 per cent of the qualifying clean-up cost.
Mr Rogers said: ‘‘There is a window of opportunity to gain significant tax savings which is good news for the property sector, especially given market conditions. We are seeing an increasing number of developers and investors who have started to become aware of the savings to be made but need the expertise in this area to maximise their claims. The tax relief benefits are, in some cases, significant enough to influence scheme viability.”
