Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 section 560

Wasting assets

Section 560 provides rules for computing gains and losses on the disposal of wasting assets, by writing off allowable expenditure at a uniform rate over the predictable life of the asset.

• A wasting asset is an asset with a predictable useful life of 50 years or less; plant and machinery (other than works of art) are always treated as wasting assets, but freehold land is never a wasting asset
• On disposal, the original cost (less scrap value) is written off at a uniform daily rate over the asset's predictable life, so that only the unexhausted portion of the cost is deductible
• Enhancement expenditure is similarly written off at a uniform rate from the date it is first reflected in the asset's value to the end of the asset's predictable life
• Special rules apply to leases of land (which are written off using the table in Schedule 14 rather than at a uniform rate) and to life interests in settled property