NatWest launches a tax calculator tool for businesses following a budget

By Joy Dumasia

NatWest has launched a new online tax calculator, which will allow UK businesses to identify and calculate additional tax incentives that may be available via super-deduction or annual investment allowances to assist them with business investment planning.

The launch follows the announcement of “super-deduction” in the Spring budget, which allows companies to claim up to 130% deduction against profits for any new and unused plant and equipment purchased between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2023 to help stimulate business investment and promote economic growth and recovery from the pandemic.

Powered by Swoop, the bank’s new tax calculator complements the grant finder tool, launched in February 2021 to help UK businesses search for grants to help them manage the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tool has had more than 15,000 hits, and NatWest continues to provide this service free of charge to support businesses to achieve their growth and sustainability ambitions.

Both tools are available free of charge to any business online through the NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank NI and Lombard websites. Upon completing some simple questions, applicants can either review grants matched to their business or understand potential tax savings due to plant and machinery investment.

Ian Isaac, Managing Director, Lombard Asset Finance, NatWest Group, said: “The government’s decision to increase tax incentives both by way of extending the £1m Annual Investment Allowance until March 2023 in the recent Budget and introducing the super-deduction scheme, will help businesses to stimulate business investment and increase productivity. With businesses now looking to build back better, grow, diversify and become more sustainable, it’s essential we continue to provide them with the practical support to help achieve these ambitions. We’ve worked with Swoop on the tax calculator tool, which offers business leaders access to the information they need to understand the tax benefits they may be entitled to when investing in qualifying assets. This development follows the success of the grant finder tool, which has now been made more widely available to help more businesses benefit.”