Why do so many companies not claim R&D relief?

Why do so many companies not claim R&D relief?

Despite the potentially attractive levels of tax relief available, the statistics make it clear that R&D tax relief is hugely under subscribed for by UK SMEs.

So, why do so many companies not claim R&D relief? There are potentially a number of reasons for this:

(1) The definition of innovation– A business may simply not be aware that their activities qualify as innovation for R&D purposes

(2) Qualifying expenditure – Identifying what costs qualify for research and development tax credits can be complex and often leads to companies claiming for less than their full expenditure eligibility.

(3) Calculating the claim correctly – calculating the amount of relief using the relevant rate across relevant accounting periods is NOT straightforward.

(4) Making the claim – To support the claim, comprehensive documentation will need to be compiled and submitted to HMRC.

As a firm, we are experienced in holding business owners hands through the process from the feasibility stage to receiving the benefit of the claim.

Next steps

If you have any queries about why do so many companies not claim R&D relief? Or about R&D tax relief in general, then please get in touch.

Who are we?

ETC Tax is a specialist tax advisory firm and was with two specific aims:

1. To make tax advice more accessible and more effective in meeting the needs of SMEs, OMBs, entrepreneurs and high net worth individuals;
2. To help other professional advisers provide a full service offering to their clients, and ultimately to help them enhance and grow their practices.

Due to demand for high quality specialist tax advice ETC Tax has seen rapid growth over the past few years. Today, our tax team is made up of a group of highly experienced Chartered Tax Advisers who between us have amassed a wealth of tax experience, mostly gained at Big 4 and Top Ten accountancy firms.

Supported ably by a team of passionate Tax Advisers and committed support staff we enjoy working together to achieve the best possible outcome for our clients, priding ourselves on delivering complex tax advice in a commercial and ‘user friendly’ way.

ETC Tax – ‘Making the complex simple’