Research and development

R&D tax credits are one of the government’s top incentives to encourage investment in research and development activities.

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What qualifies for R&D tax relief?

You don’t have to be a lab technician or a scientist to take advantage of the relief. In fact, many businesses wrongly assume they aren’t eligible or don’t claim their full entitlement, resulting in nearly £2billion per annum not being claimed.

Any business operating in any sector may be eligible. If your business is innovating, developing or improving a product or service, you may qualify for R&D tax credits.

The key is that your project must contain some technical uncertainty, so a good test is to think about whether your team thought the technological goal was achievable or not at the start of the project.

A successful R&D claim can bring about a number of benefits to your business. Whether you are using the relief to pay off tax bills, relieve cash-flow pressures or fund the launch of another product, the scheme can help your business to grow and develop.

How we can help

HMRC often state that R&D tax reliefs are under-claimed. Both HMRC and the government want to see more claims being made, and our specialist tax team are perfectly placed to help. At Smith Cooper, we can help identify whether you are eligible and support you through the entire process.

We’ve also joined forces with TBAT, specialist R&D independent consultants with over 17 years’ experience in working with organisations conducting R&D activities. The collaboration has allowed us to launch a new R&D online portal launched, allowing ambitious owner-managed businesses to submit key data which will tell them whether they may be eligible to submit a R&D claim, making the whole process quicker, easier and much more accessible. Read more about our partnership with TBAT, and how our combined expertise could help you, here.

View our R&D guide