Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 section 273

Acceleration of writing-down allowances in respect of certain expenditure on certain industrial buildings or structures

Section 273 provides for accelerated writing-down allowances, known as "free depreciation," on qualifying capital expenditure incurred on certain industrial buildings or structures, allowing faster rates of depreciation than the standard annual allowance under section 272.

• Free depreciation allowed the annual writing-down allowance to be increased at the taxpayer's discretion, originally up to 100% of qualifying expenditure, but this was progressively restricted and effectively abolished for expenditure incurred on or after 1 April 1992.
• Qualifying expenditure is capital expenditure incurred on or after 2 February 1978 on the construction of an industrial building or structure occupied by the claimant for a qualifying trade (factory, mill, dock undertaking, or hotel-keeping), but the allowance is not available to lessors.
• Exceptions to the abolition applied to buildings used for Shannon or IFSC trading operations, buildings provided under binding contracts or industrial development agency-approved projects within specified timeframes, and certain hotels contracted before 31 December 1990.
• Where the writing-down allowance is accelerated under this section for any chargeable period, no initial allowance under section 271 may be claimed in respect of the same qualifying expenditure for that or any subsequent period.