R&D Tax credits – not just for “white coated” scientists

Research and Development (R&D) tax credits can provide your business with an alternative, and sometimes vital, source of funding but many believe they are only available to the science and technology sectors. With Chancellor Philip Hammond promising a £2.3bn investment into R&D in the 2017 Autumn Budget now is the perfect time to dispel some myths surrounding who can claim.

What are R&D Tax Credits?

As a generous company tax relief, R&D Tax credits can either reduce a company’s corporate tax liability or provide a sizeable cash rebate. An example would be an SME spending £100,000 on eligible R&D could save tax of up to £24,000 a year.
 

Who can claim?

While official guidelines do say your company ‘must be carrying out research and development work in the field of science or technology,’ to qualify, this is not as limiting as it might seem.
HMRC’s published guide state that ‘the relief is not just for ‘white coat’ scientific research but also for ‘brown coat’ development work in design and engineering that involves overcoming difficult technological problems. This can include creating new processes, products or services, making appreciable improvements to existing ones and even using science and technology to duplicate existing processes, products and services in a new way.'

More information and case studies can be found in our fact sheet.
 

What do I do next?

Once you have identified a project which could qualify for R&D tax relief the next step will be to contact a financial professional to see if you are able to progress your claim. Here at James Cowper Kreston we have a dedicated tax team in which sit experts on R&D tax relief who have helped our clients claim back tens of thousands of pounds. These include those working in manufacturing, food, electronics and computer software sectors. For more information please contact us via the details listed above or through our enquiries page.