R&D Tax Relief from the R&D Tax Specialists

The R&D Tax Relief scheme was first introduced in 2000 and is designed to encourage innovation and increase spend on R&D projects in the UK.  The relief has the potential to reduce Corporation Tax liabilities but is complex and has been through a number of recent changes to eligibility and the amount of relief available to claim.

There are significant savings to be made for qualifying companies, however the conditions under which they may claim are wide-ranging and particular.  Our R&D tax specialists can identify your opportunity for claims quickly and compliantly.

Any company, operating in any industry, could be eligible for R&D tax relief. However, only work that is part of a specific project to make an advance in science or technology will qualify. The work that is completed must have taken place in order to overcome an uncertainty facing the business that could not have been easily worked out by a professional in the field. So, if your business is facing questions to which your team can’t find the answers, this may well be an indication of a qualifying project.

The R&D Tax Relief structure is split into two schemes; The SME Scheme and the R&D Expenditure Credit (RDEC) scheme. The size of your business will dictate which one is applicable to you. Those businesses with fewer than 500 employees and an annual turnover of less than €100m (or balance sheet less than €86m) will be part of the SME Scheme and any other will come under RDEC.

The amount that you get back will depend on your company size and your applicable scheme, whether you are claiming via enhanced deduction or payable credit and also in which year the expenditure was incurred.

For expenditure incurred on or after 1st April 2023, the RDEC rate increased from 13% to 20%.

The enhancement rate for SMEs reduced in April from 130% to 86% with the credit rate decreasing from 14.5% to 10%.  Intensive loss-making SMEs can now make use of an enhanced rate of R&D relief announced in the 2023 Spring Budget. SMEs in which at least 40% of total business expenditure is made up of qualifying R&D spend will still be able to claim a payable credit of 14.5%.

Claiming for R&D tax credits is complicated, with legislation and technical information difficult to interpret. Navigating the R&D tax relief claims process without the assistance of a tax specialist can result in inaccurate or non-approved claims. At Meta, you can benefit from our years of specialist experience in this field and be sure of maximizing your claim. We operate a simple, 5-step process and it all starts with a no-commitment consultation. Talk to us today

We only charge on a results-basis, dependent on the claim that we are able to realise for you. We will agree our fee rate with you in advance of progressing the claim and will only take our costs once you have received your relief.

Once a claim is submitted it will usually be processed within 4 to 6 weeks, providing that HMRC is in receipt of all supporting documentation.