Overseas R&D – Does it Affect R&D Tax Relief Claims?

R&D work doesn’t have to take place in the UK for generous R&D Tax Reliefs to be available for your company.

The first point to note is that R&D tax relief is a reduction in UK corporation tax and so it follows that to be eligible, the claimant must firstly be a company and secondly must be paying UK corporation tax. (Whilst this might appear to be stating the obvious, we do get queries from sole traders wanting to access the relief.

In these cases, it can be worth considering incorporating but that is the subject of another article!) The worldwide profits of UK based companies are in the charge to UK corporation tax and this can include the cost of branches based overseas.

R&D tax relief is based on the qualifying activities and qualifying expenditure of the company paying UK corporation tax and not where the R&D activity is undertaken.

Assuming that your company paying UK corporation tax has a qualifying R&D project, let’s look at the possible qualifying costs and where these may be incurred.

Qualifying R&D Tax Relief expenditure

Subcontracted R&D

Sub-contracted R&D is the most common area where we see R&D activity taking place offshore, with relief available in the UK. Sub-contract R&D can be difficult to identify but essentially the claimant company needs to be contracting with another party for the other party to take on responsibility for and fulfil a specific part of the R&D project.

Where UK based SMEs are sub-contracting work, the sub-contractor does not need to be based in the UK and the work need not be performed in the UK – it can take place anywhere in the world. Several of our clients’ sub-contract part of their R&D projects overseas, particularly with regard to testing and prototype manufacture.

Where a large company sub-contracts its R&D, it cannot claim relief unless the work is subcontracted to an individual, or a qualifying body.

Where the qualifying body is based

A qualifying body does not necessarily have to be based in the UK but overseas bodies must be pre-approved by HMRC and it is not the case that all overseas educational bodies are included. We have practical experience of one of our clients being able to claim for costs sub-contracted to one overseas University but not another and so if this is relevant to you, it is worth seeking advice at an early stage.

The relief for sub-contracted costs varies depending on whether the contractor and sub-contractor are connected. Where they are connected, for example, where a UK company sub- contracts an aspect of its R&D project to its overseas subsidiary, relief is determined by the relevant expenditure in the sub-contractors’ accounts.

Salary costs

Salary costs are typically the largest component of R&D tax relief claims. It’s unlikely that a UK based company will have staff on the payroll outside the UK, but if they do, and assuming these people are involved in the qualifying R&D project, then relief will be available for their costs. (NB companies in this situation should seek advice to ensure they are dealing with any compliance requirements in the other jurisdiction.)

Externally Provided Workers (EPWs)

Externally Provided Workers (EPWs) can be another significant R&D cost. It is possible for the EPWs to be based anywhere in the world – for example, larger companies undertaking significant R&D projects may use the services of EPWs based in India or China. Again, these costs would qualify, subject to the normal connected party rules, which would come into play if the EPW provider was, for example, a subsidiary or sister company based overseas.

R&D activity can be eligible for relief even where it doesn’t take place in the UK. If this is something you are interested in discussing further, then please claim your free consultation with one of the Radius team.