Research & Development tax relief claims

As Research & Development (R&D) tax relief claims become more popular across the UK for both SME and large sized corporations, it is no surprise that HMRC is cracking down on the review process for who they grant this generous tax relief to. It is known that the number of fraudulent R&D claims being submitted is increasing year on year. This may have contributed to why HMRC have chosen to expand their innovations team, with the goal of implementing a more structured review process.

Although more scrutiny towards claims is welcomed across the industry, it has not gone unnoticed that the unfortunate downside to this is the delay in processing times for both the SME and RDEC schemes.

If you are looking to prepare an R&D tax relief claim, be reassured that AAB’s specialist team take time and due care to prepare each one of our clients robust R&D claims. Should any of the claims prepared by us be subjected to a HMRC query, our understanding on the relevant R&D legislation and experience of liaising directly with HMRC ensures we will have all of the essential evidence to support your claim.

The UK tax system provides companies with enhanced tax relief for expenditure on qualifying R&D activities. These activities could deliver a cash flow benefit to those innovating in the textile sector, as long as projects comply with the key eligibility criteria required. This relief can:

• Reduce existing tax liabilities;
• Result in a cash payment to the company; and
• Reduce future tax liabilities.

The claims process followed by AAB for R&D tax relief

1. Working together with AAB’s specialist R&D engineers, the qualifying R&D projects are identified.
2. Working together with AAB’s specialist R&D engineers, the qualifying expenditure on the identified R&D projects is collected.
3. AAB’s specialist R&D engineers prepare the claim package: supporting technical report and cost assessment.
4. The claim is filed with the submission into HMRC’s portal.
5. After processed by HMRC, the cash flow benefit is delivered.
6. Repeat process next year.

If you would like further information or would like to discuss support for your claim, regardless of the industry in which your business resides, please do not hesitate to contact any member of our specialist R&D Tax Relief team.