NEWS

20 June 2019

The CBI has called on the government to “deliver the world’s most competitive R&D Tax Credit by ensuring that it recognises the growing importance of data-driven R&D”.

In its recent report, Innovation: The Changing Nature of R&D, the CBI notes that the UK’s R&D Tax Credit scheme is “relatively generous by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development standards”. However, the CBI states: “The Treasury should ensure the R&D Tax Credit evolves to reflect the reality of modern technologies and data-driven innovation. The Treasury should consider amending definitions of eligible activities to include the costs of purchasing, storing, using and analysing data which have been used in driving R&D and innovation in the UK.”

The CBI also calls on the government to act on its commitment to deliver the target of R&D being 2.4% of GDP by 2027 by publishing a comprehensive roadmap. “This roadmap must be underpinned by the necessary public funding to catalyse growth in UK R&D investment. If R&D investment continues at the current rate of growth, the UK will not reach the 2.4% target until 2053, 26 years too late. Building the UK’s strengths and capabilities around data and analytics must be a key feature of this strategy,” the CBI says.

Garry Hague, Director at R&D Tax Specialists, said: “Around half of the R&D Tax Credit claims we make are on behalf of companies involved in IT and software development. We fully support the CBI’s call to broaden the definition of eligible activities that can be claimed for. This will enable companies to further leverage the benefits of the R&D Tax Credit scheme enabling further investment in technology development and improved competiveness.”

The CBI report can be downloaded: https://nexusleeds.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Changing-Nature-of-R-and-D.pdf

Check to see if you can claim a tax refund.
Call 0207 470 8709, or email info@randdtaxspecialists.co.uk for a no-obligation assessment of your potential to make a claim.

31 March 2019

R and D Tax Specialists secured nearly £4 m in R&D Tax Credits for companies involved in technical development in the year ending March 2019.

This represents an increase of more than 10% on the value of Tax Credits secured for clients in the prior year.

R and D Tax Specialists assisted over 150 businesses, both SMEs and larger companies (including plcs), across a broad range of sectors, including:
• software & IT;
• engineering and manufacturing;
• electrical and electronics;
• chemicals;
• oil & gas; and
• waste & recycling.

The company continued to build its client base across the UK with particular growth in software & IT, engineering, waste & recycling and electronics. As testament to the quality of R&D Tax Specialists’ end-to-end service and strong relationship with its clients, a significant proportion of new clients were generated following recommendation from existing clients.

Garry Hague, Director at R and D Tax Specialists, said: “Awareness of R&D Tax Credits is growing, as evidenced by the HMRC’s latest data, especially among SMEs. The number of claims received by HMRC in the 2015-16 tax year increased by 22% versus the previous year. The number of SMEs making a claim has more than doubled since 2013-14.

“It’s especially pleasing that many of our existing clients have recommended us to their suppliers, customers and other business contacts. Our 100% success rate with claims, and our approach to ensuring compliance with HMRC’s requirements, are key factors in our high levels of client retention and our ability to continue to secure new clients.”

R and D Tax Specialists’ qualified engineers have backgrounds in engineering and software development combined with business finance, this, combined with the support of senior corporate tax accountants, and the company’s structured and efficient end-to-end approach for progressing successful claims, keeps the client’s time commitment to the minimum whilst ensuring HMRC compliant claims are produced.

Check to see if you can claim a tax refund.
Call 0207 470 8709, or email info@randdtaxspecialists.co.uk for a no-obligation assessment of your potential to make a claim.

31 January 2019

In light of continuing Brexit uncertainty, and resulting economic uncertainty, R and D Tax Specialists is encouraging companies that are not presently claiming R&D Tax Credits to bolster their businesses by securing the benefits of this key tax relief.

Companies that are developing new, or improving existing products or business systems, or production processes, that are tackling “technological uncertainty”, are likely to qualify for an R&D Tax Credit which can result in a valuable cash refund of tens of thousands of pounds for initial claims.

Garry Hague, Director at R and D Tax Specialists, said: “With Brexit uncertainty likely to continue for a very considerable time, it is imperative that companies take steps to secure all of the business support available to them. An R&D Tax Credit can result in a large cash injection for businesses which can be used to improve resilience by strengthening a company’s balance sheet, and to improve competiveness in uncertain markets.”

“We can quickly ascertain if a company is likely to qualify for an R&D Tax Credit, and advise exactly what needs to be done to make a claim. The process from start to finish need only take a few weeks before the company receives the benefit. We are happy to provide a no obligation assessment on the likely success of a claim. We are happy to take initial enquiries by telephone or email. Tel: 0207 470 8709 / info@randdtaxspecialists.co.uk.

31 December 2018

The latest HMRC R&D Tax Credit statistics have reasserted the value of these vital tax reliefs to companies involved in technical development work.

The latest statistics demonstrate some new trends and, positively, they underline that there is a growing awareness and uptake of the R&D Tax Credit scheme with the number of claims submitted to HMRC in the last year having more than doubled.   At the same time, the average claim value continues to rise.

The key statistics:

• For SMEs, the average claim value for 2016-17 is £53,876
• The number of SMEs making a claim has more than doubled since 2013-14
• 75% of SMEs are making a claim worth less than £50,000
• The average RDEC claim for 2016-17 is worth £272,881
• 5,900 RDEC claims were submitted in 2016-17, representing a 185% increase since the RDEC schemes introduction
• This is supported by the fact that there are now more SMEs claiming via RDEC than there are Large companies

Note: These are provisional HMRC figures.