In recent years the Government has enhanced tax breaks for innovation, through such reliefs as Research and Development (R&D) and Patent Box, which provide companies with generous tax incentives to innovate. We are fortunate in the Sheffield City Region to have a significant number of businesses that innovate across a wide range of sectors, from manufacturing and engineering to new technology and software.
At Shorts we often find that potentially eligible companies can overlook these reliefs as they overestimate the level of innovation that is actually needed, or are put off by the level of work required to claim. Recognising this, we formed our Innovation Taxes Group to help innovative businesses obtain the help they need to keep innovating – not just through tax reliefs but also through the access of grant funding and associated business support.
Made up of a dedicated team of professionals who truly specialise in providing proactive and quality advice to innovative businesses, members of the Innovation Taxes Group have successfully saved millions of pounds of tax for local businesses by preparing hundreds of claims for reliefs such as R&D and Patent Box (savings which can be reinvested in jobs and growth for innovative companies in the region).
R&D tax reliefs reward innovative companies that seek to make an appreciable improvement in technology or science through R&D work by offering a very generous relief against their tax liability. For example, a SME incurring £100,000 of costs on qualifying R&D activity could save up to £26,000 in corporation tax.
The Innovation Taxes Group can ensure that R&D claims are made for our clients that are compliant with the legislation and maximised as far as possible with a simple, straightforward and painless approach.
The Innovation Taxes Group will do most of the work so you don’t have to.
Patent Box relief allows for profits arising from UK or EU patented items, or patents exclusively licensed by a company, to be taxed at an effective tax rate of only 10%, just half the normal tax rate.
An attractive headline benefit, however in practice the calculations required to make a claim can be complex. (With changes due to be introduced to the scheme from this summer, this looks even more likely to be the case.) But our Innovation Taxes Group can lead you though the process of determining whether your company qualifies for Patent Box tax relief, then help a business make a claim, ensuring that the input required from our clients is kept to a minimum.
Along with R&D and Patent Box relief, the Innovation Taxes Group is able to assist businesses obtain grants towards further innovative activities (on the basis that if it has carried out innovative work in the past, it is likely to continue to do so in the future and would therefore be well placed to benefit from such areas as R&D grant funding).
Additionally, we can help a business seek support from higher education establishments (for areas such as Knowledge Transfer Partnerships) and other similar institutions, help a company protect its intellectual property, claim tax benefits from other areas like Creative Reliefs (for example, the Video Games Development Relief) and access finance from emerging alternative sources.
The Innovation Taxes Group is committed and enthusiastic about championing innovation in the Sheffield City Region, and offering joined up and proactive support that any innovative business would require.
Tax reliefs and other associated funding and support for innovation represent an unmissable opportunity for businesses in the Sheffield City Region and Shorts’ Innovation Taxes Group is perfectly placed to help.
For more details, please do not hesitate to contact Scott Burkinshaw (Tax Partner and Head of the Innovation Taxes Group) or visit the Innovation Taxes Group area of our website.
Scott Burkinshaw
Scott is Tax Partner at Shorts, specialising in providing strategic corporate and personal tax advice.
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