Key facts about R&D tax relief

SMEs can claim up to 33p for every £1 spent on qualifying R&D expenditure, or up to 11p for every £1 spent for large companies

R&D can take place in businesses of any size or sector and the scheme is open to all UK limited companies

You could be eligible to claim by creating or improving products, processes, services, devices or knowledge

This cash boost could be used to reward staff, grow your team or fuel your next project

Who can claim R&D tax credits?

The governing legislation is purposefully broad in order to capture innovation across all sectors, from construction to food, to energy to insurance – the scope is huge. Your projects needn’t have been ultimately successful or commercially realised, and you can also claim for work undertaken on behalf of a client as well as your own projects.

  • You are a limited company subject to UK corporation tax
  • Your projects have/had an uncertain outcome
  • Your projects go/went beyond existing technologies or used them in a new way
  • You are up-to-date on your accounts

Not sure if what you do counts as R&D?
You’re not alone

R&D doesn’t mean reinventing the wheel: it’s solving problems in a new way or having to overcome a challenge that doesn’t have a straightforward solution. Examples of R&D might include creating new products, processes, devices or services, or modifying existing products, processes, devices or services. What’s more, you can even claim if your project was unsuccessful.

Over 75% of the clients we work with didn’t realise they qualified for R&D tax relief before speaking to us

Qualifying costs for R&D activity

There are a number of cost categories you can claim against which make up your claim value. Our experts can work with you to identify these within your business. They include:

Staff
costs

Salaries, Employer’s National Insurance and Pension contributions, Reimbursed Travel Expenses

Computer
software

Software partly or wholly used to facilitate R&D activities

Subcontractors
and freelances

Cost of hiring external or contracted staff to work on R&D projects

Consumables such as
water, fuel and power

Items that are consumed during R&D activities, including materials and prototypes

Find out if you’re eligible to claim R&D funding using our quick self-assessment test

Take our simple test to determine what innovation funding options are available to you and how likely you are to be eligible for each. Many of the different innovation schemes complement each other, with R&D tax credits usually offering the most generous benefit.

It’s as easy as 1-2-3

  1. It takes less than 5 minutes
  2. You’ll answer 13 questions
  3. We’ll tell you whether you’re eligible for R&D tax credits, or one of the other government R&D funding schemes

Our client-first approach

Since the beginning, our focus has been on providing businesses with the best possible R&D claims service. Our clients come from a wide variety of sectors, and they love us for what we do.

  • Our team comprises engineers, science and technology PhDs, and sector specialists who will prepare the reports and claim documentation on your behalf 
  • We take the time to get to know your business; this means we’re often able to find more qualifying expenditure than other advisers
  • We sit on the R&D Communication Forum (RDCF) and have a large amount of interaction with HMRC on the various nuances of the legislation
  • We have rigorous in-house quality assurance processes to ensure your claim holds up under HMRC scrutiny
  • Our fee is success-based only and includes support through any questions or an enquiry from HMRC

Joe McGurk

Managing Director

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