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We strongly believe in promoting our clients businesses wherever possible and would love for this to be reciprocal. As an added incentive, we have introduced a Client Referral Scheme, to demonstrate just how much we appreciate you taking the time to help us out.

here how it works


For every client you refer to us, we will then include a 10% discount on your next invoice from us.

Once your referral completes our registration process and makes payment of our invoice, we’ll pass your reward straight back to you.

Make sure you register your referral here, so we can make sure you get rewarded for each referral.

R&D Explained


Research & Development Tax Credits are a UK tax break aimed at encouraging companies to spend more on R&D activities, which the government believes are beneficial to the UK economy.

The benefit is received as a corporation tax refund, or as a reduction in corporation tax payable.


Claims are submitted alongside the corporation tax return and can be made up to 2 years after the end of the period to which they relate. Many qualifying companies use the benefit to invest in further R&D activities, but they can be used for anything, which includes paying out dividends.

Broadly speaking, a project qualifies if it constitutes an “advance” in science and technology, which is defined as an improvement in overall knowledge and capability in a technical field.

A key factor in determining if a project qualifies is if uncertainty exists around the end outcome. This would typically be the case where you are attempting something that no others have achieved previously. Even unsuccessful projects can qualify for R&D tax credits.

As you would expect though, HMRC have some fairly detailed guidelines on what constitutes R&D.

We've summarised the key criteria.


Technical uncertainty


If the project presented issues that your competent professionals were unsure they would be able to overcome…

Innovation


If the project is finding a solution that is not readily available in the market, then it points to possible R&D.

Cost


If a project incurs a significant amount of expenditure (+£50k) on skilled resource, then there’s a possibility there will be R&D involved.

Qualifications


If your project requires the expertise from knowledgeable employees and/or subcontractors that hold formal qualifications then it could constitute R&D.

How much can you recover?


Profitable and lossmaking SMEs are able to recover between 14.5% and 33% of the amount they’ve spent on qualifying R&D.

Profitable SME (£)

Loss-making SME (£)

Qualifying R&D expenditure

100,000

100,000

Enhanced deduction (130%)

130,000

130,000

Total Corporation Tax deduction

230,000

230,000

Corporation Tax deduction sacrificed

(230,000)

Corporation Tax saving

19,000

Enhanced Corporation Tax saving

24,700

Cash repayment

33,350

Here’s a few typical R&D costs.


These are just some of the most common types of qualifying expenditure. The full list is extensive and very much dependent on the industry in question.

Subcontractor costs


Technical analysis


Management salaries


Testing


Prototyping


Developing new processes


Software licenses


Hardware costs


Premises expenses


Wondering if you qualify for R&D tax credits?


Get your free, no-obligation tax credit calculation