Benefits of R&D Tax Relief
Receive up to 33p for every £1 spent on R&D.
An average claim of £50k+ with no minimum claim.
Any industry or sector can make a claim.
R&D Tax Credits Explained
What are R&D Tax Credits?
The R&D tax credit scheme is a UK tax relief scheme to promote R&D. It supports companies that are investing in innovation. It helps companies to grow and it turn the overall economy. Since the inception of the scheme in 2000 over £26 billion has been claimed and it is growing year on year.
You are able to make a claim in your CT600 and you support this by sending an R&D report to HMRC, which they aim to process the claims in 4-5 weeks. You are allowed to claim for the previous two accounting periods. Once you pass the deadline it is gone and you can never get it back. You can make a claim even if the project failed.
SME scheme:
For SME’s (Less than 500 staff and turnover less than £90 million.) Can claim back up to 33.35% of the qualifying expenditure.
RDEC scheme:
For large companies (More than 500 staff and turn over more than £90 million or SME’s in special cases.) Can claim back up to 11% of the qualifying expenditure.
To be eligible there is a shortlist of qualifying criteria:
Be a UK limited company
Be subject to normal UK corporation tax
Have spent money on qualifying R&D
What is Qualifying R&D?
HMRC has strict definitions of what is R&D for the R&D tax credits scheme. They can be very complicated with a lot of “grey” areas, which is why it is advised to have a specialist aid you with this. In short, HMRC considers R&D “Work that advances overall knowledge or capability in a field of science or technology, and projects and activities that help resolve scientific or technological uncertainties, may qualify for R&D relief”
What is Qualifying R&D?
HMRC has strict definitions of what is R&D for the R&D tax credits scheme. They can be very complicated with a lot of “grey” areas, which is why it is advised to have a specialist aid you with this. In short, HMRC considers R&D “Work that advances overall knowledge or capability in a field of science or technology, and projects and activities that help resolve scientific or technological uncertainties, may qualify for R&D relief”
This can be broken down into certain things that must be met for HMRC to consider it R&D
What is the Qualifying Expenditure?
The financial side of an R&D claim can be very complicated, and many different factors can affect what is and isn’t eligible, and what percentage is allowable. This is why we advise having a specialist aid you with an R&D claim. You are able to claim a lot of the costs associated with an R&D project. Below is a summary of what is and isn’t claimable.