Improve Cashflow with R&D tax relief claims

How would a government grant in the form of a reduction in your corporation tax liability, or in some cases a direct payment from HMRC, help you achieve your business growth aims? 

The Government recognises that innovation drives economic growth and one of the ways in which they encourage innovation is through the R&D tax credits regime. The reliefs were first introduced almost 20 years ago but HMRC statistics show only a very small proportion of eligible SME companies make the claims to which they are entitled. The same statistics show that smaller companies are less likely to claim than larger ones. 

Often a SME which is seeking growth needs additional funding, perhaps to help them;

• develop new new products,
• develop new processes or
• break into new markets.

These companies are often the ones which are undertaking the type of innovative work which the Government is seeking to reward through R&D tax reliefs. Yet the statistics referred to above show that many eligible companies are missing out on the relief which could make a significant difference to their growth plans.

Briefly, the relief is worth almost £25k in corporation tax saved for every £100k of qualifying spend. If a company has losses for tax purposes, (which can often be the case for start-ups and for companies investing in future growth), HMRC can in some cases pay a credit to the company worth up to nearly 33% of the qualifying spend. Qualifying companies are those undertaking projects which seek to advance science or technology through the resolution of scientific or technological uncertainty – whilst this sounds complicated, any company developing a new product or process, or innovating to scale up production, or to decrease costs, could be undertaking qualifying R&D without being aware of their eligibility. One of the main reasons that the relief isn’t claimed by all those who are entitled is because the level of innovation required to claim is often overestimated – it’s not just for chemists in laboratories but applies to companies in all sectors, including manufacturing and software development.

Often a SME which is seeking growth needs additional funding, perhaps to help them;

So if you are seeking to grow your company, and would benefit from additional resources to do so, in terms of cash which you could perhaps invest in new staff, or in further R&D, we would encourage you to contact us to check whether your company is entitled to this relief.  Our Radius specialists focus on quickly and concisely assessing a company’s eligibility to claim Research and Development tax reliefs. They will then ensure your claim is completed as painlessly as possible, is compliant (we have a 100% success rate) and is maximised.

The majority of SMEs who are entitled to this relief are missing out – make sure you’re not one of them!