To receive R&D Tax Relief you need to ensure that you have carried out an R&D project which meets the government definition for tax purposes and have incurred qualifying costs on this project.

HMRC qualify research and development as overcoming technological and scientific uncertainties or challenges; aiming at achieving a technological and scientific advance that couldn’t be easily worked out by a professional in the field.

Whatever size or sector, if your company is taking a risk by attempting to resolve these uncertainties, then you may be carrying out qualifying activity. This could include creating a new process, product or service or improving on an existing one.

​To claim R&D relief projects must meet all of the following criteria: 

1. aims to create a scientific or technological advance in the overall field.
2. has or has tried to overcome scientific or technological uncertainty.
3. the uncertainties could not be easily worked out by a professional in the field.​

Whatever your R&D project, R&D claims are increasingly being scrutinised therefore good record keeping and a strong technical narrative to substantiate your R&D claim is important.

Routine analysis, copying or adaption of an existing product, process, service or material, as well as attempting to improve the cosmetic or aesthetic qualities of a product, process, service or material will not itself be R&D. However, work to create certain cosmetic or aesthetic effects through the application of technology can still qualify. Other non-qualifying activities include but are not restricted to, commercial or financial steps necessary for innovation, production, distribution, storage and repair.

If you are losing money, you can claim back up to 33% of your qualifying development spend in cash. In other words, you can get up to 33p back for every £1 you spend. If you are profit-making, your relief will offset your tax liability up to the amount of tax you owe. A profit making company, startup or SME can even get cash back if its R&D tax credit is greater than your corporation tax liability. In that case, you get the amount you’re owed in R&D tax relief that is greater than your tax liability back in cash. You can get cash back as well if you’ve already paid your corporation tax – often the case when we are filing an amended corporation tax return to cover R&D expenditure for your past financial years.

The use of sub-contractors outside the UK need not affect your claim for tax relief.

You can claim R&D tax credits after each financial period (when you submit a corporation tax return) as long as you are creating a new advancement in science or technology.

Our R&D tax team can prepare your claim within 4 weeks of receiving all the necessary information. Once the claim is submitted, HMRC generally take 4 to 6 weeks to process a claim.

We work with a large number of external accounts. Our team are happy to liaise directly with your accountants to obtain all the relevant financial documentation. We will prepare a technical report and a claim statement that your accountant can use when submitting your corporation tax return.

You can claim back two financial periods. For example, a business with an accounting year end of May 31^st 2018 has until May 30^th 2020 to claim or lose out.

The R&D claim is based on a just and reasonable assessment of the proportion of costs relating to research and development activities, i.e. time spent by R&D staff on qualifying activities. There is no requirement to record time against R&D projects, however it could prove beneficial in ensuring a robust claim is put forward to HMRC.

HMRC qualify research and development as overcoming technological and scientific uncertainties or challenges; aiming at achieving a technological and scientific advance that couldn’t be easily worked out by a professional in the field. In our experience, claims are often overlooked because business owners over-estimate the level of innovation required to claim. Contact us for a free assessment.