If you are already claiming R&D Tax Credits, you should review your costs of making a claim periodically, since markets change and you may be paying too much in fees to one of the R&D Tax Credit specialist consultancies.
Usually the most important factor for a business is to understand the scope of what can be claimed in terms of eligible tax credit projects and then writing a technical justification to support your claim for R&D Tax Credits.
An R&D tax credit claim can include advances in science and technology to do things like…
- Create a new product
- Develop a new service
- Design a new process such as to improve organisational efficiency
- Adapting and developing existing software to create new ways of doing things
- Building complex websites or web based applications
- Integrating different technology platforms or devices involving complex systems integration
- Creating innovative new software applications involving technology development
- Designing or redesigning products or elements of a product – involving the innovative use of science or technology. This could be a new handle or a better lock or more efficient cleaning process so long as science or technology is used in an innovative way.
It can also include things like using science or technology in new and innovative ways to develop new ways to make and bake better pies or bread.
The government has produced a great informative pdf here. Well worth a read.
If you seek help or advice from a specialist you are likely to increase the value of your claim as evidence seems to suggest that many companies’ under-claim or worse still don’t claim at all because they have difficulty interpreting and applying the guidelines.
The technical justification needs to identify what projects come within the scope of R&D for Tax Credit purposes and explain in plain English why those projects fit into the guidelines for eligible projects.
In our experience there is no need for the R&D Tax Credit adviser to take on the role of submitting the Corporation Tax Computations which is what some specialist consultancies want to do.
We believe a better approach is for the R&D adviser to work with your existing accountants to support them and your finance manager in identifying eligible spend categories and in understanding what spend qualifies.
Whatever you are paying we can help you to review your expenditure to minimise the cost of making a claim, and if you think you may have overpaid we would like to hear from you.
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