Research & Development Tax Relief
Research & Development Tax Relief
INTRODUCTION
UK companies spent over £25 billion on Research and Development (R&D) during 2018, and HMRC's statistics show that the volume of R&D relief claimed by small and medium sized companies (SMEs) is increasing.
However, many eligible SMEs are still not claiming the relief. This is often due to a lack of awareness, or a misunderstanding of the requirements for relief. There have also been warnings that that genuine R&D businesses could be impacted by government proposals to combat tax relief abuse.
Here, we explore how you can make the most of any R&D tax reliefs available to you. There are some common misunderstandings around R&D relief for SMEs. The definition of R&D for tax purposes is quite wide – not everything has to be created in a laboratory. This means that some activities may be classed as R&D that might not qualify at first glance.
R&D TAX RELIEFS: THE BENEFITS
The government actively encourages companies to carry out R&D in order to promote growth and increase profitability. A wide range of tax incentives exist, which are designed to encourage investment in R&D. Different types of incentives are available, depending on the size of the company. These include an increased deduction for R&D spending, alongside a payable R&D tax credit for those companies not yet in profit.
The government has stated that it is 'committed to improving access to R&D' for SMEs.
CLAIMING R&D TAX RELIEFS
SMEs are permitted to claim R&D tax relief if they have fewer than 500 members of staff and a turnover of under €100 million, or a balance sheet total of less than €86 million. The relief permits SMEs to deduct an additional 130% of qualifying costs from their yearly profit. This is in addition to the normal 100% deduction, giving a total deduction of 230%.
In order to make the most of R&D tax relief, a company must have incurred expenditure on qualifying R&D projects that are related to its trade. Projects must be innovative and should assess and attempt to resolve scientific or technological issues.
Qualifying expenditure falls into different categories. These include staffing costs; software costs; expenditure on consumables or transformable materials; costs of work done by subcontractors; and costs of clinical trial volunteers.
R&D TAX CREDIT CAP
Government concern about abuse of SME R&D tax relief means that there is a cap on the amount of payable SME tax credit which can be claimed in any period.
This will be £20,000 plus three times the total PAYE and national insurance contribution (NIC) liability for the period. The PAYE/NICs bill to look at is not just the bill for those involved in the R&D work: it applies to the company's entire PAYE and NICs spend, as well as the PAYE and NICs of connected persons carrying out subcontract R&D for the company or supplying workers to the company.
There have been warnings that genuine businesses will be impacted, but the measure is not intended to penalise bona fide claimants.
Companies claiming a payable credit less than £20,000 will not be affected. If the company meets two tests, a claim of any size will not be capped. The conditions are that its employees are creating, preparing to create, or managing intellectual property; and that less than 15% of its R&D qualifying expenditure is spent with connected persons.
If you need any support with claiming tax relief for your Research & Development activity, we have a team of experienced and friendly chartered accountants who will be able to help you and your business.
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