Research & Development
Are your activities eligible for R&D tax relief?
In many cases we’ve worked on, business owners have not considered that the business may have qualifying expenditure eligible for R&D tax relief. Often this couldn’t be further from the truth. Think back over the past two years and ask yourself, have I…
- Looked for a more efficient or more effective solution.
- Made improvements to an existing product or created a new product.
- Investigated new methods or processes.
- Trialled new computer code or materials.
- Solved problems or overcame issues for customers.
If the answer is yes, the chances are you are probably eligible for R&D tax relief.
R&D qualifying expenditure
- Employment costs
- Reimbursed staff travel & subsistence on R&D projects
- Externally Provided Workers
- Payments to eligible thirds parties
- Other subcontracted costs
- Software
- Consumables
- Payments to subjects of Clinical Trials
- Contributions to Independent Research
- Costs of qualifying indirect activity
- e.g. training, employment support services, research, information services
Examples of R&D qualifying activity
It isn’t possible for us to list all R&D qualifying expenditure activities that may be eligible for R&D tax relief, but to give you a flavour of the wide range of activities, here are some examples:
- Bespoking software, overhauling IT or developing websites or CRM systems
- Scientific or technological planning, design, testing, and analysis
- Adaption of new or existing premises
- Pursuit of quality management standards
- Failed attempts to improve products or processes
- Adaption of a product to enter new markets, particularly overseas
- Contribution (e.g. testing, providing technical feedback) to R&D activity carried out by others
Activity in these areas can generate lucrative R&D tax reliefs for your business.
