What is R&D tax relief

Research & Development (R&D) tax reliefs are HMRC incentives created to encourage innovation and technological advances in the UK. R&D tax relief is a widely available, but often overlooked tax relief.

Since the introduction of R&D tax relief the rates of relief have increased significantly and the qualifying conditions relaxed. Subsequently, more companies than ever are claiming R&D tax relief on projects. Figures released by HMRC in 2014 found that since the relief was launched over 100,000 claims have been made and £9.5bn in tax relief claimed. However, it is still believed that many companies who have qualifying projects are not claiming.

Yet many businesses are still missing out.

An important point to remember is that to claim this relief, you don’t have to work in a lab or wear a white coat. We have submitted successful claims for IT & Software businesses, Food & Beverage businesses, as well as the more obvious Healthcare & Medical, Manufacturing and Engineering businesses.

Claiming R&D tax relief can be a complex and detailed process, without the right advice.

Whether you’re developing a new product, service or process or materially improving an existing one, it may be worth speaking with Hawsons today.

It is important the person submitting the claim has experience of the R&D tax relief claiming process and negotiating with HMRC. This will undoubtedly reduce the number of mistakes made during the claiming process and ensure that all qualifying R&D projects have successful claims.

For more information please speak with Stephen today. You can find more details on R&D tax relief here.

Stephen Charles is a tax partner at the firm, specialising in corporate and business taxation. For more details and advice, please contact Stephen on sac@hawsons.co.uk or 0114 266 7141.[/author_info]

More from our tax experts

You can find all of our latest tax articles and tax resources here.

If you are looking for advice in a particular area, please get in touch with your usual Hawsons contact.

Alternatively, we offer all new clients a free initial meeting to have a discussion about their own personal circumstances – find out more or book your free initial meeting here. We have offices in Sheffield, Doncaster and Northampton.