Research and Development Tax Credits – is your small business missing out?

Research and Development Tax Credits

Over the last few years we have made many successful claims on behalf of our clients for research and development tax credits. But the fact remains that only a tiny proportion of businesses do apply for R&D tax credits, and a surprising number of business owners don’t even know about them. While 50% of larger companies claw back some of the cost through R&D Tax Credits, only 5% of smaller firms are doing the same.

So what’s the barrier? I think part of the problem is that HMRC’s guidelines for claiming R&D tax credits are – to put it mildly – rather ambiguous. In theory, if a project seeks to ‘achieve and advance in overall knowledge or capability in a field of science or technology through the resolution of scientific or technological uncertainty’, then it will qualify.

So far, so good. But when you then read in detail all the conditions to be satisfied, then you find yourself being washed away by a sea of muddy jargon. As one blogger has written, many applications are likely to ‘fall into a grey area’ where the likely HMRC response is “submit it and we’ll evaluate it when we see it.”’

This is all very well, but it does mean that you could spend many hours providing HMRC with highly detailed information about your R&D project, only to find that it doesn’t qualify. On the other hand, you don’t want to be put off by the application process if there’s a chance you will benefit from thousands of pounds.

My advice would be to talk to a professional here at THP. Our specialist R&D consultant contacts have significant experience at guiding firms through the application process and can assess your project in the light of the regulations. If they think you’re likely to succeed in a claim, then together we’ll do all we can to help you make it.

First read our Guide to Research and Development Tax Credits here and then take a look here to see how we can help you to explore this further and discover whether you may be able to claim Research and Development Tax Credits from the government.

So, over to you. If you do anything that you think may stand the slightest chance of being classed as R&D, talk to us today – it could mean a nice chunk of your tax bill will evaporate!