Revenue loses five-a-side appeal

Five-a-side football pitches can be "plant" for the purpose of claiming capital allowances

News, 26 October 2004

The Inland Revenue has lost an appeal against a decision to allow a claim for capital allowances relating to the cost of laying down five-a-side football pitches.

The claim, by Anchor International Ltd in respect of pitches at Sighthill, Edinburgh, was initially refused by the Revenue but allowed on appeal by a Special Commissioner. His decision has now been upheld by the Court of Session.

The Revenue argued that the pitch was a "structure" in terms of the relevant schedule to the Capital Allowances Act 1990, which would exclude the claim. The Commissioner held that the carpet comprising the playing surface should be treated separately from the site underneath, as it was not fixed and could be repaired or replaced when it wore out.

Lord Kirkwood, speaking for the appeal court, said it had not been shown that the Commissioner had erred. "If the decision of the Special Commissioner did not involve any error of law, and he was entitled to regard the synthetic carpet as a separate entity, it was common ground that the carpet by itself could not be regarded as a 'structure' and, accordingly, that the expenditure on the carpet was not excluded by [the schedule]", he stated.

The Commissioner was also right to hold that expenditure on the carpet was expenditure on "plant": "It was not merely part of the premises, but was the means whereby the operation of providing five-a-side football on a synthetic pitch was carried out", said the court.

The judgment can be found on the Scottish Courts website at http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/opinions/XA29.html.