My Latest Blogs
1st March 2023
1-Apr-23: Changes to R&D tax relief
From 1 April 2023 there are a few changes to the ‘super-generous’ R&D tax relief rules: The Research and Development Expenditure Credit (RDEC) rate will increase from 13% to 20%, The SME additional deduction will decrease from 130% to 86% and the SME tax credit (surrender) rate will decrease from 14.5% to 10%. Additional costs…
3rd February 2022
R&D tax relief: New anti-abuse rules
As R&D tax relief rules are arguably the most generous on the UK tax statute book, it is perhaps no surprise that HMRC consider that there is much abuse going on. For every £1 that a corporate taxpayer claims as an eligible R&D spend, their corporation tax bill is reduced by 43.7p (ie, not the…
27th October 2021
Construction firm wins R&D tax relief case
A tax tribunal has made a landmark ruling against HMRC, by declaring that the construction taxpayer (Quinn) was validly entitled to claim SME research and development (R&D) tax relief totalling approximately £1m, even though this work was specifically undertaken to order for a customer, which would normally mean the ‘subsidised’ rule would prohibit eligibility under…
27th October 2021
Budget: Key business tax measures
The 2021 Budget included two key tax measures for SME businesses: The retention of the £1m annual investment allowance for capital expenditure, up to 31 March 2023, is to be welcomed and is a measure to encourage businesses to keep investing in new plant and machinery. The Budget also confirmed the Government’s commitment to R&D…
7th December 2020
Prevention of abuse of R&D tax credit refunds for small and medium sized companies
From 1 April 2021, HMRC are to introduce a limit on the amount of payable tax credits which can be claimed by a loss-making company. The refund will be restricted to £20,000 plus 300% of its PAYE and NIC liability for the period. Where the accounting year straddles 1 April 2021, the company will be…
20th October 2020
Indexation Relief: Bank it
The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) has been in consultation with individuals, businesses as well as professional advisers – including accountancy bodies – to review the capital gains tax system and see whether there is any scope to simplify the current tax system. The consultation process closes on 9th November 2020. Speculation has been…
24th October 2019
R&D Tax Claims: HMRC finally go-digital.
In February 2019 HMRC introduced an online tool to submit Research & Development tax relief claims (both SME and RDEC claims). It is still necessary to make the claim on a company tax return (form CT600), but the accompanying detailed R&D project information can (but does not have to) now be submitted by completion of…
11th December 2018
R&D tax credits explained
Research and development (R&D) tax credits are a valuable government tax relief that rewards UK companies for investing in innovation. Companies that spend money developing new products, processes or services; or enhancing existing ones, are eligible for a cash payment and/or Corporation Tax reduction. R&D tax credit rates are the equivalent of up to 33p…
7th December 2018
Budget Changes Encourage Investment
A number of measures contained in October’s budget were designed to increase investment made by UK businesses and aimed at raising the UK’s international competitiveness. Farmers anticipating expenditure on new commercial buildings or a large outlay on machinery, may find Chancellor Hammond’s changes both interesting and useful. Let’s look first at the Structures and…
8th November 2018
EIS: v2?
Observers of recent Budgets will have noticed that the Chancellor has made several references to “EIS Knowledge Intensive Funds”, as a new initiative to help finance growth in innovative firms. He has even invented a new phrase to describe this type of funding: ‘Patient Capital’. The initial March 2018 Consultation Paper has now closed for…