Many UK Organisations that could be claiming R&D Tax Credits are missing out on thousands or even hundreds of thousands of pounds of tax deductions each year and in the case of a currently non tax paying SME this may be a vital cash back claim.
So why are these organisations not claiming or under claiming this cash benefit? Primarily because there are a number of misconceptions, the most common of which are:
- That it is only for "traditional" R&D or high tech product development. In fact whenever a technical challenge occurs where skilled personnel cannot identify a sure route to the solution their attempts to solve, whether successful or not can qualify. This is true of product development but also process development, process improvement, repetitive quality issues, root cause analysis / resolution and many others.
- That if a competitor has already overcome the problem we cannot claim. If the method or process by which your competitor reached their solution is unknown, unsuitable for your product or protected by patent then your activities can still be eligible.
- That the personnel claimable will only be a small percentage of the overall project costs. Whilst in some cases this can be true, it is usually the case that a far greater proportion of project activity will be eligible.
- That exact and contemporaneous project activity and cost records are required. In fact, whilst these are desirable, their absence does not prevent a claim.
- That if the work is funded by customers it prevents a claim. For non Large organisations this has no restriction on a claim and even in an SME this usually does not prevent a claim under the large company scheme.
If this makesw you you are not receiving all you should from R&D Tax Credit call us now on 01962 713733 or 05602 587425 (BroadbandTalk) or use the use the contact us link for email