Many firms maintain records that show the history of the firm
and its activities. They may also provide public access to them.
Firms are being encouraged to improve public access to any
historic records that they hold. This has led to requests for
guidance on the treatment of costs incurred on the care and
conservation of business archives, of providing access to them and
of educational service based upon them.
The costs incurred in maintaining historic archives will
generally be allowable expenses in arriving at the profits of a
trade.
The exceptions are:
Firms who provide access to their archives and linked
educational services generally do so in order to obtain the
commercial benefit of bringing their name, products or services to
public attention. That is no less a legitimate expense wholly and
exclusively for the purposes of the trade than, for example,
advertising.
It follows that generally speaking expenditure on the
provision of access to archives and on linked educational services
by a firm is allowable against trading income.
The main exceptions are:
