ATO Interpretative Decision

ATO ID 2003/1086

Income Tax

Capital Works: whether pool of construction expenditure reduced by grants received
FOI status: may be released

This document incorporates revisions made since original publication. View its history and amending notices, if applicable.

CAUTION: This is an edited and summarised record of a Tax Office decision. This record is not published as a form of advice. It is being made available for your inspection to meet FOI requirements, because it may be used by an officer in making another decision.

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If you reasonably apply this decision in good faith to your own circumstances (which are not materially different from those described in the decision), and the decision is later found to be incorrect you will not be liable to pay any penalty or interest. However, you will be required to pay any underpaid tax (or repay any over-claimed credit, grant or benefit), provided the time limits under the law allow it. If you do intend to apply this decision to your own circumstances, you will need to ensure that the relevant provisions referred to in the decision have not been amended or repealed. You may wish to obtain further advice from the Tax Office or from a professional adviser.

Issue

Is the pool of construction expenditure for the taxpayer's construction expenditure area, for the purposes of Division 43 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997), reduced by an appropriate portion of the grants the taxpayer received to finance the construction of such capital works?

Decision

No. The pool of construction expenditure for the taxpayer's construction expenditure area is, pursuant to section 43-70 of the ITAA 1997, the capital expenditure the taxpayer incurred in respect of the construction of the capital works and is not reduced by any portion of the grants the taxpayer received to finance the construction of such capital works.

Facts

The taxpayer received a number of grants from a state government body for the specific purpose of constructing certain capital works used in the course of and for the purposes of their business. The taxpayer complied with the strict requirement that the grants only be expended for the specific purpose for which they were paid. The grants are included in the assessable income of the taxpayer as ordinary income.

The amount of each grant is determined strictly on an objective basis. That is, although there are general rules that guide the taxpayer's decisions in respect of capital works, the grants are not specifically linked to the quantity or quality of the capital works constructed, their cost or to any particular capital works. The grants simply provide a source of finance from which capital works are constructed. The capital works the taxpayer constructs otherwise qualify for deduction under Division 43 of the ITAA 1997.

Reasons for decision

Broadly speaking, Division 43 of the ITAA 1997 allows a deduction for certain capital expenditure on qualifying capital works that are owned, leased or held by an entity to the extent that the works are used by the entity for the purpose of producing assessable income.

The deduction is based, at least in part, on a pool of construction expenditure for the entity's particular area. This is defined in section 43-85 of the ITAA 1997 as 'so much of the construction expenditure incurred by an entity .....as is attributable to the construction expenditure area'. A separate construction expenditure area is created each time an entity undertakes the construction of capital works (subsection 43-75(6) of the ITAA 1997).

'Construction expenditure' is capital expenditure incurred in respect of the construction of capital works (section 43-70(1) of the ITAA 1997). Construction expenditure is determined on the basis of the actual cost incurred in respect of the construction of the capital works (Taxation Ruling TR 97/25).

There is no basis in Division 43 of the ITAA 1997 on which the taxpayer must reduce a pool of construction expenditure for capital works it constructed by any portion of the grants it received to finance the construction of such capital works.

Therefore, deductions allowable under Division 43 of the ITAA 1997 in respect of the amounts of construction expenditure the taxpayer incurred on capital works can be calculated without applying any portion of the grants to reduce those amounts.

Amendment History

Date of amendment	Part	Comment
10 July 2014	Related ATO IDs	Corrected reference to ATO ID 2003/1085

Date of decision: 6 November 2003

Year of income: Year ended 30 June 2002

Legislative References:
Income Tax Assessment Act 1997
   section 43-70
   section 43-75
   subsection 43-75(6)
   section 43-85

Related Public Rulings (including Determinations)
Taxation Ruling TR 97/25

Related ATO Interpretative Decisions
ATO ID 2003/1085

Keywords
Building depreciation
Capital allowances
Construction expenditure area
Government grants income
Pool of construction expenditure
Structural improvement expenses
Uniform capital allowances system

Siebel/TDMS Reference Number: 3450070; 1-AYY3RBD

Business Line: Private Groups and High Wealth Individuals

Date of publication: 5 December 2003
Date reviewed: 4 August 2017

ISSN: 1445-2782

history

	Date:	Version:
	6 November 2003	Original statement
You are here	10 July 2014	Original statement

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