Last month, Finance Bill 2021 (official title: Finance (No.2) Bill 2019/21 which will become Finance Act 2020) completed its journey through the House of Commons and has now moved to the House of Lords where report stage has been completed and third reading is awaited.
The House of Lords does not have the power to make any amendments to the Bill as it is a ‘money bill’ and therefore these stages are a formality only. Royal Assent will take place once the stages in the House of Lords have been completed, however no date for this has yet been published.
Last month on 24 May, Report stage and third reading of the Bill took place including final Government amendments. A Finance Bill amendment (Amendment 2) was tabled which extends the clause 9 super-deduction/special rate capital allowances provisions which allows leased background plant or machinery to now qualify for the enhanced deductions. A further amendment (Amendment 19) now means that HMRC will pay interest if it delays a repayment VAT return to check the figures. This will take effect for periods beginning on or after 1 April 2022.
A further guidance note has been published on the extended loss carry-back for business provisions.