Arrangements designed to encourage investment, by increasing its rewards or decreasing its costs. Many such incentives work via the tax system. Accelerated depreciation means that firms are allowed to write off investments faster than the true rate of capital consumption: this lowers measured profits and thus taxes paid in the early years after an investment is made. Initial allowances enable the whole cost of investment goods to be written off when they are purchased. Investment allowances enable part of the cost of investment to be written off when it is made, while still allowing full depreciation allowances to be claimed later; investment allowances are thus a form of investment subsidy. Non-tax incentives for investment include preferential treatment for firms which invest in matters such as allocations of materials, access to financial markets, or planning permission for development.