Thousands of small business owners across the UK are missing out on the opportunity to make substantial savings on their tax bill via the reliefs available to them on their business premises, according to Oliver Rae Associates.

The firm’s director, David Shortt, said these reliefs, known as Property Capital Allowances, can represent thousands of pounds worth of tax savings with a massive opportunity for brokers to help clients and earn a procuration fee.

He said: “Accountants will claim capital allowances on most of their clients’ assets as a matter of course. However, the kind of embedded Plant & Machinery allowances that Oliver Rae Associates concentrates on are so closely tied into the very fabric of the building, that it takes a specialist surveyor to attend the property and physically catalogue and quantify them, and ensure that they are fully claimed for.

“Most small to medium-sized accountancy firms will not have the specialised resources available to them to do this, and will turn to specialists like ourselves to assist them and their clients.”

Up to 10% of total expenditure on property may be available to the client as a tax relief from HMRC and any commercial property will qualify. Certain specific multi-let residential properties may also qualify.

Shortt added: “These services are now more vital than ever, with upcoming changes to the legislation around these allowances meaning that commercial property owners will literally have to ‘use it or lose it’; properties traded after April that haven’t had these allowances identified and ‘pooled’ will no longer be able to be claimed on, losing both buyer and seller potentially thousands of pounds.”