Usually, it’s businesses paying the tax authorities and not the other way around right? In an effort to boost the economy and encourage innovation, back in 2000 the UK government first introduced the Research & Development (R&D) Tax Credit scheme.
The incredible news is that if you’re a UK limited or public limited company, and you’re doing what you do best, that is building or developing your business, you could be eligible to claim back cash under the scheme. It could be as much as £33.33 in every £100 spent on staff, contractors, software, and other costs. (Check this R&D FAQ for more information on how it works).
It could be that you’re working on cutting edge technology. Or perhaps you simply saw a better way of doing things and altered existing business models in your sector to better suit the needs of customers, or you changed an existing process to improve the end product in some way.
Some facts:
● Claims can be made in any industry, from administration and support services, to IT or software development, manufacturing, construction and finance.
● The government is actually so supportive of the scheme that the amount it has given back to businesses has actually gone up each year since it began – an eye-watering £3.5 billion was claimed in R&D tax credits by innovative UK businesses according to the latest annual statistics, and there’s no sign of it slowing.
● The average claim in the UK is around £50,000, and closer to £80,000 in London.
Whilst there’s a lot to understanding the scheme, thankfully there is help at hand. There are specialist R&D tax specialist firms, such as Claimer, that can provide a steer on whether you could be eligible and can navigate the complexities of the scheme for you, saving you time and effort.
And luckily most reputable tax relief consultancies work on a contingent fee basis so you don’t need to worry about big upfront costs.
Ben Adams is the R&D Claims Director at Claimer, online R&D Tax Credit software.
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