Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 section 354

Double rent allowance in respect of rent paid for certain business premises

Section 354 grants a double rent deduction to traders and professionals who occupy qualifying tourism-related premises in designated resort areas under a bona fide commercial lease.

• A double deduction (i.e. twice the actual rent) is allowed in computing the profits of a trade or profession carried on from a qualifying premises in a qualifying resort area.
• The premises must attract capital allowances under section 352 (hotels, holiday camps, holiday cottages) or section 353 (commercial tourism premises), and any refurbishment expenditure must be at least 20 per cent of pre-refurbishment market value.
• The lease must be granted in the qualifying period, be on arm's length terms, and the lessee must not be connected with the lessor; for leases granted on or after 21 April 1997, no double deduction is available where rent is paid to a connected person.
• Relief is capped at 10 years in total for any one premises, aggregating all earlier qualifying lease periods, and finance leases are excluded.