The UK Government has set aside a fantastic incentive in the form of a Tax Relief fund. This fund encourages small and medium sized (SME) businesses to further invest in their activities which fuel innovation, research and development. This brilliant Tax Relief scheme is sector-agnostic. This means your business could very well be eligible for a Tax Credit. This may reduce your Corporation Tax cost or you could receive a refund from HMRC. Many businesses don’t realise they are doing R&D and so miss out on crucial re-investment funds. These funds could give them the cash boost they need to reach their next goals quicker.  

Ask yourself these questions and if you answer yes to any of them, you may be eligible:

1. Does my business engage in projects which seeks to overcome uncertainty?
2. Does my business spend time improving processes, products or services?
3. Does my business invest time discovering ways to create new products, services or processes?

Remember, the UK Government has the desire to see local businesses become successful and thrive as world contenders. That’s one of the reasons why the R&D Tax Credit scheme exists.  Our team of R&D Tax experts are here to help you maximise the claim your business rightfully deserves.

It is reassuring to know that research and development cuts across such a wide variety of industries. R&D is found in small to large businesses. Yes, there are popular industries like Manufacturing, Professional, Scientific, Technical, Information and Communication sectors but there are lots more industries – trust us.

It’s quite exciting to discover the scope of R&D activities. When you consider the fact that HMRC are quite vocal in expressing that many eligible businesses are not claiming R&D tax relief, there could be opportunity for your business. Let’s arrange an eligibility call?

Without trying to be biased toward the services we offer, when you consider the average successful claim amount of £47333.00 that SME’s are paid out, it does seem worth every penny. When you work with Available Grants, you can have peace of mind knowing that we will ensure that no stone is left unturned and that the maximum value tax credit claim is awarded to your business.

You can certainly go through the process yourself and you can ask your accountant to provide a submission. However, you may want to consider why you should rather leave it to a specialist firm like Available Grants.  Our sole objective is to maximise the absolute best return on your claim that you are eligible for.  Finding maximum value for your R&D tax claim requires intricate analysis and expert application of the R&D definition. We are confident that we would be able to uplift your claim quite substantially.

Having consideration for the definition of R&D from the perspective of HMRC, your project(s) should seek out to challenge and overcome uncertainties and introduce new elements of knowledge.  Maybe you are not sure if this is what your project(s) achieved and that is why we are here to help you.  Determine if your work is eligible for R&D tax relief or not – so why not let us help you find out.  Let’s arrange a friendly eligibility call with our R&D specialist team.

The Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) website is a great resource here. This was one of three new departments established following the dissolution of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in February 2023, and now oversees the government’s R&D schemes.

Specific guidance for SMEs is available here. However, if you need further guidance, one of our consultants would be pleased to speak with you.

A few examples of eligible costs and expenses are:

• software
• salaries
• subcontractor costs
• externally provided worker (EPW) costs
• consumables
• clinical trials
• reimbursed expenditure

If you’re not sure whether your expenses qualify for credit, feel free to speak to one of our consultants who will be happy to give their expert advice.

Whether it’s your first time claiming or you’ve done it before, please be aware that the regulations changed in August 2023. You now need to complete an amended CT600 form, and also a supplementary CT600L form, which appears to have been introduced in an attempt to reduce the number of fraudulent claims.

Guidance on how to complete the forms can be found here, together with an overview of the most recent Budget. If you need any help making sense of it, our team is happy to assist.

Yes! Providing you’re aiming to advance the field of science and technology, you are making a difference even if the project was unsuccessful. The government’s R&D tax relief scheme incentivises and encourages businesses to push boundaries and take risks.