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RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT TAX CREDITS

We can help you join the dots and access funding and investment before starting on your R&D journey.

SUPPORTING INNOVATIVE COMPANIES WITH R&D TAX INCENTIVES

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    Research & Development (R&D) tax relief claims are a core part of the support the CP Innovation team offer companies. It’s worth taking a look at the full range help that the team can provide to businesses. From Creative Tax Reliefs, Intellectual Property and Patent Box through to help accessing grants and business support. R&D tax relief is a government incentive to reward the time and investment businesses put into creating or improving products, processes or services. They encourage innovation. And they keep UK businesses and our economy on the front foot.

    Some businesses would love to carry out more R&D activity. And make a claim. But they’re caught in the trap of not having the money to invest in research activity. They’re potentially missing out on a cash injection to their business or a reduction in their tax burden from a successful claim. CP Innovation can help you join the dots. We know you might need to access funding and investment before starting on your research and development journey. You may need access to specialist scientific knowledge or need academic support. Take a look at the information below which will tell you more about R&D tax relief and the potential benefits for your company. Then talk to us.

    WHAT IS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (R&D)?

    R&D is when businesses actively improve and develop new products and processes. It helps businesses remain competitive, launch new offerings, improve existing ones and make a profit. However, we’ve found R&D sounds too complex. Too much like rocket science. And it sets the bar too high in people’s minds about what qualifies and what doesn’t.

    We remove the misconceptions. And we’ll show you there’s a lot more to R&D tax credits than white coats, labs and innovation centres. Put simply, it comes down to two things:

    • You’ve made some changes to a product or manufacturing process, and
    • These changes were challenging, weren’t obvious or easy, and you weren’t sure how to do them from the off.

    So, if you’ve made changes that took some thought, some time and some testing – it’s time for us to talk. “R&D”, for tax relief purposes, is more than what you may think.

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      WHAT DO OUR
      CLIENTS SAY?

      • 91

        Total reviews
      • 4.6

        Average rating

      Ian

      R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to keep investing in the business. The results went beyond our expectations

      Posted on 28 Mar 2023

      Tony

      R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow for more investment to meet increasing volume demands generally once we get the refund from HMRC. You exceeded expectations in terms of what the output looked like (still to hear from HMRC though). Output was very professional and the journey with Mark, Emma and Tom was great - they were very responsive, fast and met deadlines. I don't know how we would have got the info from our tech guys without you all.

      Posted on 28 Mar 2023

      David

      R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to invest more. The results met with our expectations 100%

      Posted on 28 Mar 2023

      Beyhan

      R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to continue to invest in our business. The results met with expectations

      Posted on 28 Feb 2023

      Sadia

      R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to support the business further. The results were above expectations.

      Posted on 06 Jan 2023

      Andy

      R&D Claim: The additional cash avoids a further liability to assist overall working capital. Expectations met and well conducted workshops. Good comms.

      Posted on 06 Jan 2023

      James

      R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to re-invest. Combined with the Capital Allowances Team the results met all expectations.

      Posted on 06 Jan 2023

      Thomas

      R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow for continued investment into our patents and R&D to drive sales. I felt the results were above expectation. I appreciate the timeliness and the assistance when resources were constrained. The push to meet deadlines and helpfulness was unmatched.

      Posted on 06 Jan 2023

      Dean

      R&D Claim

      Posted on 06 Dec 2022

      Esperanza

      R&D Claim: It was great working with the team. All very supportive and knowledgeable. The additional cash will help with our corporation tax payment

      Posted on 21 Nov 2022

      Harpreet

      Very professional and knowledgeable to our market of business. Cooper Parry's regular notifications of industry updates as well as personal reach outs keep us well informed of any market and regulatory changes required within our sector.

      Posted on 08 Nov 2022

      Karan

      R&D Claim: Always first class. The additional cash will allow us to reinvest in the product

      Posted on 08 Nov 2022

      Peter

      R&D Claim: Great service as per previous year. Staff involved had necessary engineering expertise to bridge the gaps between myself and our own R&D team. Just gives us some confidence when investing further in R&D projects, qualifying or otherwise.

      Posted on 03 Nov 2022

      Sabrina

      R&D Claim: The results are not yet complete however the process of the claims have been great and very smooth and easy. It has been a pleasure to work with Cooper Parry and definitely made my life much much easier.

      Posted on 03 Nov 2022

      Richard

      R&D Claim: The results matched with our expectations very well. The additional cash will allow us to pay staff xmas bonus and purchase hampers for our top customers

      Posted on 03 Nov 2022

      Lisa

      R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to invest in capex. I had hoped we might be able to get a bit more back, but the reason is that my business does less R&D activity than I expected (i.e. not connected to your work)

      Posted on 03 Nov 2022

      Malcolm

      R&D Claim: Cooper Parry provided a very efficient and professional experience, comprehensively providing guidance as we developed the claim. The additional cash will allow us to develop our business further.

      Posted on 03 Nov 2022

      David

      R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to make additional investment in R+D and new plant & equipment. The process has been great , thorough insight into the latest rules and guidance allowed us to achieve a positive result.

      Posted on 03 Nov 2022

      Alan

      R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to bolster our bank account as we are debt free and well invested. Rather disappointed that because of the size of the Fila Group as a listed Group in Italy we are constrained by the quantity of R&D relief which we appreciate does not fall within the responsibility of Cooper Parry. The relief obtained is much appreciated but simply below expectation as we did not appreciate the rules.

      Posted on 03 Nov 2022

      Gordon

      R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to continue to carry out innovative r&d which creates added value for SMS, our customers and society. The results were excellent

      Posted on 29 Sep 2022

      Mel

      R&D Claim: The additional cash will help us to invest into new ventures

      Posted on 29 Sep 2022

      Brian

      R&D Claim: The additional cash will enable us to re-invest in further R & D. We have developed some materials that I believe have an exciting future in the next generation of battery technology. The results totally met my expectations.

      Posted on 31 Aug 2022

      Charlene

      R&D Claim: The results were inline with expectations. The additional cash will contribute to the costs of R&D

      Posted on 21 Jul 2022

      James

      R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to invest in new plant and machinery to help grow the business but also to take advantage of the 130% capital allowances so we pay less tax next year! Previously the R&D claims appeared to be a last minute thought. Now CP arrange meetings as soon as the year is finished so the work we have completed is fresh in our minds. We have now started to discuss R&D work undertaken in our monthly directors meetings too.

      Posted on 10 Jun 2022

      Tony

      R&D Claim: We have dealt with CP on numerous occasions now and the overall performance remains as we've come to expect, outstanding. Any additional cash gives us the confidence to continue, carrying out further R&D activity as we continually look at ways to push our capabilities, technical knowhow and upskill our workforce. Of course the cash incentives allow us to accelerate our overall growth too.

      Posted on 04 Jun 2022

      Simon

      R&D Claim: Extremely smooth process and excellent knowledge of our R&D projects within the Cooper Parry team. Friendly yet professional approach. Reporting schedules straightforward to complete. I imagine the additional cash will allow investment in further R&D projects.

      Posted on 04 Jun 2022

      Anil

      R&D Claim: The additional cash will help us to fund further investments. The results matched our expectations entirely

      Posted on 06 May 2022

      Ed

      R&D Claim. The results exceeded expectation and the additional cash will allow us to invest in growth

      Posted on 05 May 2022

      David

      R&D Claim: Bang on - really impressed. The additional cash will allow us to continue investment in our key R&D project well into FY22

      Posted on 04 May 2022

      Amie

      R&D Claim: The results were excellent, as expected. The additional cash will allow us to reinvest in R&D projects and other engineering projects.

      Posted on 03 Apr 2022

      Daniel

      R&D Claim: The results completely met expectations. The additional cash will allow us to invest in productivity / automation

      Posted on 03 Apr 2022

      Lee

      R&D Claim: The professionalism and level of customer service is exceptional. The additional cash will allow us to slightly improve working cap

      Posted on 14 Feb 2022

      Carol

      R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to continue to invest in R&D, The results were more than expected.

      Posted on 14 Feb 2022

      Harpreet

      R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to grow the business. Result were as we expected. Efficient communication and logical processes.

      Posted on 14 Jan 2022

      Rob

      R&D Claim: Waiting for HMRC but it all looks positive. We got a good professional submission with a light touch interaction with CP and in what I think was a cost effective way. The additional cash will allow us to continue to invest in product development.

      Posted on 14 Jan 2022

      Alan

      R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to re-invest into our facility and broaden our product range. The results achieved met our expectations.

      Posted on 14 Jan 2022

      Susan

      R&D Claim: The additional cash allows us to reduce our next bill. I wasnt expecting there to be anything on this particular R&D claim, so anything was a win :-)

      Posted on 14 Jan 2022

      Greg

      R&D Claim: the additional cash will really help working capital. The results were as expected - but I already knew what a great team you are!

      Posted on 14 Jan 2022

      David

      R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to cut borrowings! The results achieved were very good.

      Posted on 14 Jan 2022

      Stephen

      R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to invest in £500k of new plant & machinery being delivered in March. We had high expectations that were achieved.

      Posted on 14 Jan 2022

      Bryan

      R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to pay down debt. The result was above and beyond as always. The team is great to work with.

      Posted on 14 Jan 2022

      Barbara

      R&D Claim: The additional cash may be used to pay for additional staff training. The results compared perfectly to our expectations.

      Posted on 14 Jan 2022

      Michael

      R&D Claim: Additional cash will put some working capital into the business which is much needed, especially as Aerospace is still waking up from Covid. It far exceeded what I thought we could claim for significantly.

      Posted on 14 Jan 2022

      Paul

      R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to reduce our overdraft. The results were slightly higher than expected

      Posted on 14 Jan 2022

      Chris

      R&D claim: Our corporation tax liability is due at Christmas when cash flow is tight so the additional cash certainly helps ease the burden. Every year we have completed the R&D exercise, Cooper Parry have always exceeded my expectations.

      Posted on 02 Nov 2021

      Dave

      R&D claim: The additional cash will help us to survive! In terms of results, it's the 3rd year, so pretty much as expected.

      Posted on 02 Nov 2021

      David

      R&D claim: The results achieved were in line with what was promised at the start. The additional cash has already been banked into our cash flow to invest in product team.

      Posted on 02 Nov 2021

      Tony

      R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to continue growing our business. We were expecting a high standard and that's what we received. Delivery was spot on and Customer service is first class

      Posted on 07 Aug 2021

      Perminder

      R&D claim: The service and collaboration is exactly what we have began to expect from CP R&D Tax team. The process simply enabled us to pay less Tax but invest back in to R&D

      Posted on 26 Jul 2021

      John

      R&D claim: Achievement was correlated to expectations given the experience of the team and our prior working relationship. The additional cash has enabled us to increase cash reserves at this moment in time with a view to capital allocation in the next 12 months.

      Posted on 26 Jul 2021

      Lisa

      R&D Claim: At my level it is not about comparing results but the guidance & experience from Marcus North for completion of the task. Marcus was a great support & was very patient too.

      Posted on 24 Jun 2021

      Hazel

      R&D Claim: I've had a previous working relationship with Cooper Parry, so knew my expectations would be met. The additional cash has enabled us to increase working capital and ease cash flow pressure during a difficult year due to COVID restrictions.

      Posted on 27 May 2021

      Adam

      R&D Claim: Very impressed with the quality and speed of response, with the team able to finalise two years worth of R&D returns in short order. The additional cash will enable us to further investment in R&D activities.

      Posted on 27 May 2021

      Gaynor

      R&D Claim: the additional cash will allow us to continue to invest into the business. The results were above expectation

      Posted on 30 Mar 2021

      Arron

      R&D claim: The additional cash will allow us to continue investing in the growth of the business moving forward. Results faired well against expectations. We weren't internally aware of the change to our claim, from SME to RDEC following the acquisition, however the detail was explained thoroughly.

      Posted on 15 Mar 2021

      Katie

      R&D Claim: Better than our expectations! This was the second year which Ece worked with us to complete the R&D claim. Ece put in place half yearly catch ups and processes which ensured that the year end claim wasn't hard work. Thanks for making it so easy! Invest in more new products.

      Posted on 06 Mar 2021

      Stuart

      R&D claim: results exceeded expectations

      Posted on 15 Jan 2021

      Matthew

      R&D Claim: The additionl cash will alllow us to continue the development of our Customs Clearance platform

      Posted on 25 Apr 2023

      Christine

      R&D Claim: An excellent service

      Posted on 25 Apr 2023

      Tim

      R&D Claim: The additional cash will provide working cap to further grow. The results were better than expected. would like to mention Marcus here as he is always very helpful and always provides very helpful and considered answers to my questions

      Posted on 25 Apr 2023

      Shamas

      R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to invest in growing the business. The results were better than expected

      Posted on 28 Mar 2023

      Andrew

      R&D Claim: We will use the additional cash to mitigate against other significant one off cash expenditure or alternatively invest in small infrastructure projects within the business to improve our facility and operational efficiency. The results matched our expectations and was a relatively smooth process as we have used Cooper Parry before for our R&D claims

      Posted on 28 Mar 2023

      Sandra

      R&D Claim: They completed all the tasks

      Posted on 27 Mar 2023

      Phil

      R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to invest in people. Definitely met expectations. Difficult to exceed expectations since you have set a very high bar in previous years

      Posted on 28 Feb 2023

      Mark

      R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to survive. The work was fine

      Posted on 28 Feb 2023

      Julie

      R&D Claim: The results matched expectations

      Posted on 28 Feb 2023

      Chris

      R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to carry on investing in the business. The results achieved were about what I expected

      Posted on 28 Feb 2023

      Gary

      R&D Claim: The additional cash will support working capital. The process was fine no issues

      Posted on 06 Jan 2023

      Tony

      R&D Claim: The additional cash will support business financing. The results were very good

      Posted on 06 Jan 2023

      Heather

      R&D Claim: Good communication. Very knowledgeable and want to build a good relationship

      Posted on 08 Nov 2022

      Glen

      R&D Claim: Overall for the main claims we didn't achieve the uplift in claims that I was expecting from a more in-depth workshops with CP. The additional cash will be added to the general cash flow

      Posted on 08 Nov 2022

      Tim

      R&D Claim: The results were what I expected. I think we are coming up with ideas and I think u are telling us whether its claimable or not. Not sure if we have exhausted everything at Instarmac. But we will keep trying. As we are cash rich - the additional cash will help us earn extra interest especially as the rate is rising. More money maybe to treat the Employees

      Posted on 03 Nov 2022

      Jenny

      R&D Claim: Efficient as always. Emma and her colleagues do a great job, are patient and responsive. The additional cash will allow us to invest back into R&D

      Posted on 03 Nov 2022

      John

      R&D Claim: Overall the results were very good. The additional cash will support the growth of the business

      Posted on 03 Nov 2022

      Chris

      R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to continue to invest in R&D - allowing us to compete more effectively against international suppliers

      Posted on 03 Nov 2022

      Matthew

      R&D Claim: The report and delivery were of good quality which was in line with my expectations. The additional cash will allow us to pay the electric bill!

      Posted on 03 Nov 2022

      Rob

      R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow is to invest in additional R&D activities

      Posted on 21 Jul 2022

      Trevor

      R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to offset any issues with FY2021. The results compared very well to our expectations

      Posted on 03 Jun 2022

      Anthony

      R&D Claim: Results were in line with expectations, and comparable to other Tax advisers we use

      Posted on 28 May 2022

      Sud

      R&D Claim: Impressed with the knowledge of our projects and the continuity of personnel looking after our claim. The additional cash will allow us to invest in our business

      Posted on 25 May 2022

      Shirley

      R&D Claim: We have been making claims for some years now so we are familiar with the process. However, after discussion on how that could be made more straightforward for our non-financial colleagues, there was a definite improvement this year and we reached submission stage faster. The additional cash will allow us to invest in the business

      Posted on 19 May 2022

      Julie

      R&D Claim: The results were as good as expected. The additional cash will allow us to support the cultural sector and keep in business

      Posted on 03 Apr 2022

      Paul

      R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to make further investment in strategic projects. The results matched our expectations.

      Posted on 14 Jan 2022

      Jon

      R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to pay the premium on a new lease to secure premises. The results were in line with our expectations.

      Posted on 14 Jan 2022

      Phil

      R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to fund working capital. The results were pretty similar to my expectations.

      Posted on 14 Jan 2022

      Andy

      R&D Claim: The results were in line with expectation - team understood technicalities well and first draft of report well put together. The additional cash has enabled us to reinvest into product development.

      Posted on 14 Jan 2022

      Esperanza

      R&D claim: The process has been straight forward. However, it would be good to get to improve communication in regards to the status of the claim. For example if we could access a website were this status is shown. Also, it would be good that the amount claimed and reported is fed back to the Tax Team and Audit team at the right stage of those processes. Therefore, ideally would be beneficial if the R&D reported in annual accounts is the same as the one claimed, and the one incorporated in the Tax calculation. The additional cash will go towards PAYE payments.

      Posted on 26 Jul 2021

      Dominic

      R&D Claim: The results exceeded our initial expectations, once we started discussions with Jonny Brewster it became clear that we could claim for more than we anticipated. I found the process both informative and straight forward.The additional cash has enabled us to increase pension payments, and give us a little more security in purchasing stock.

      Posted on 24 Jun 2021

      Ramesh

      R&D claim: very good, expectations were as planned. The additional cash will enable us to re invest in the business for development & product creation.

      Posted on 25 Mar 2021

      Vicky

      Posted on 11 Mar 2021

      Ryan

      R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to reinvest in the business. I was slightly disappointed with the quality and content of the final report. I was not sure that it really captured the elements of the project as we had communicated.

      Posted on 01 May 2022

      HOW DO R&D TAX CREDITS WORK?

      This is the package of financial support provided to UK businesses by the Government via the tax system to encourage Research & Development (or ‘R&D’) activities. In other words, a mechanism by which to reward companies for the development of new or improved products, processes, and services.

      The R&D tax incentives regimes have been designed to incentivise companies incurring costs undertaking scientifically or technologically challenging projects. It is called “R&D” but the sort of projects which can qualify are much broader.

      R&D tax credits are a specific subset of the suite of R&D tax incentives available for businesses. However, these are commonly and collectively referred to as R&D tax credits. To avoid confusion, we will provide everything you need to know about R&D tax incentives but using the R&D tax credits terminology. There will be more on the differences later.

      HOW DO I QUALIFY FOR R&D TAX CREDITS?

      There are two halves to R&D tax credit claims; technical and financial.

      TECHNICAL

      To qualify for R&D tax credits a company needs to be undertaking technical activities that meet a special definition of R&D for tax purposes. The good news is that R&D for tax purposes is far wider than companies often initially expect. For a project to qualify for R&D tax credits it must meet the following two criteria:

      1. Seeking an advance in science or technology.
      2. Whilst resolving scientific or technological uncertainty.

      Simply put, projects that include some element of improvement, where there is not an obvious or standard technical solution, will potentially qualify. You can find further commentary on the qualifying R&D criteria and how these are derived from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (‘BEIS’) Guidelines here.

      It is important to note that R&D tax credits are not specific to any one sector or industry, so if you are in food or engineering, retail or software, agriculture or manufacturing, the likelihood is that your business will be undertaking some form of qualifying R&D activity.

      You may ask who can identify the qualifying R&D activity in my business? There is one, and only one, answer to that question. It is not your Finance Director. It is not your Tax Manager. It is not your Accountant. It is not even your R&D tax credits adviser. It is the technical people in your business who are best placed in the business to understand the R&D being undertaken and apply the BEIS guidelines. For R&D tax credit purposes, these people are competent professionals. Only your competent professionals are suitably qualified to identify the R&D activities in your business.

      FINANCIAL

      Secondly, your business must be incurring qualifying R&D expenditure and therefore you need to identify costs that you have incurred in undertaking the R&D projects. You can claim internal staff costs, payments to contractors or third parties supplying workers, consumables, software licenses, and expenditure on water, fuel, and power.

      WHICH R&D TAX INCENTIVES ARE AVAILABLE TO MY BUSINESS?

      This will largely depend on whether you are an SME or a large company for R&D tax credit purposes. The criteria for each are as follows:

      SME (SMALL & MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES)

      Your business has less than 500 employees and either not more than €100 million turnover or €86 million gross assets. This is measured on a global group basis, so if your business is part of a group, or connected to other businesses you may need to consider their financials as well.

      LARGE COMPANY

      If your company is not eligible to claim under the SME criteria mentioned above, you may be in a position to claim under the large company scheme.

      ADVANCE IN SCIENCE OR TECHNOLOGY

      Let’s start with an advance in science or technology. The Guidelines provide examples of what an advance in overall knowledge or capability in a field of science or technology may be.

      1. Extending overall knowledge or capability in a field of science or technology i.e., generate new knowledge. Are you developing knowledge of a new process that is not available in the public domain? Or are you finding new uses for materials that have not been proven previously? These could be examples of extending the overall knowledge or capability in the field.
      2. Creating a new process, material, device, product or service which incorporates or represents an increase in overall knowledge or capability in a field of science or technology. Are you creating something completely new that did not exist before? Is your product the first to the market or the first to be developed in that way? This is not just in your business, but in the entire public domain. Or are you building upon existing knowledge or technology? If so, this may be more aligned to an appreciable improvement in 3).
      3. Making an appreciable improvement to an existing process, material, device, product or service through scientific or technological changes. Are you taking an existing technology, product or process and improving it by making changes of a scientific or technical nature? Most companies fall into this category as they are often building upon their own existing products and the knowledge in the public domain.
      4. Use science or technology to duplicate the effect of an existing process, material, device, product or service in a new or appreciably improved way. Are you attempting to create a product that has the same properties of an existing product but for half the price? Or maybe you are seeking to improve a process by modifying a technology from another industry.

      In short, if your business has technical people working on projects that have a scientific or technological aspect, there is potential that they will qualify. A couple of important points
      that are often missed:

      • The company does not have to be successful in achieving the advance. So, for R&D tax credits purposes, failed projects are good news!
      • However, just because science or technology is used in a project, it does not necessarily mean that it qualifies as R&D. For example, if new machines are acquired to improve manufacturing efficiency, there may be a business improvement (i.e., reduction in manufacturing costs) but there is not an improvement from a science or technology perspective, nor are there likely to be any scientific or technological uncertainties.

      RESOLVING SCIENTIFIC OR TECHNOLOGICAL UNCERTAINTY

      So, what is scientific or technological uncertainty? This is where achieving the advances sought is not routine and can come in many different forms:

      1. Situations where the company are not sure if it is feasible to achieve the scientific/technological advance.
      2. Perhaps it is feasible, but it is unclear how to achieve it in practice and the best way to proceed is not clear or not readily deducible.
      3. Perhaps there is system uncertainty in getting different technologies or technological/scientific techniques working properly together.

      There is a judgement to be made by the company’s “competent professional” as to whether a scientific/ technological challenge is routine/readily deducible to resolve (i.e. not R&D) or is scientifically/technologically uncertain to resolve.

      The company’s R&D effort starts from the moment the company commences resolving scientific/technological uncertainty, e.g. feasibility studies early in the project lifecycle, and ends when the company is confident the uncertainties have been resolved, e.g. during testing/trials.

      R&D that fails and is aborted can still qualify for relief. R&D typically ends once a product or process has been brought to market. However, it may re-start if new scientific/technological uncertainties arise that need resolving to create an improvement after this time.

      ESTIMATE HOW MUCH YOU COULD CLAIM ON R&D TAX INCENTIVES

      Have you ever wondered whether you could make a claim for R&D tax incentives? Or, if you’ve already made a claim, maybe you want to find out how it stacks up against your industry peers and expectations? Our R&D Tax Credit Calculator answers those questions and gives you an instant estimate of the benefit available to you.

      SO, BACK TO THE ASTERISK – WHAT ABOUT THE TERMINOLOGY?

      There are only three types of relief available, and each one has a specific name:

      R&D tax credits: This is the payable tax credit available for loss making SMEs.

      R&D Expenditure Credits: This is the payable credit available for claimants under the Large company regime.

      R&D tax relief: This is the additional deduction from taxable profits available for profit-making SMEs.

      If you hear anything else, it will likely be a collective name for some or all of the above.

      HOW MUCH IS AN R&D TAX CREDIT CLAIM WORTH?

      The amount that your business receives depends on two factors: (i) the type of relief claimed (R&D tax relief, R&D tax credits or R&D Expenditure Credits); and (ii) the amount of qualifying R&D expenditure.

      We cover qualifying R&D expenditure in our dedicated section here. As an illustration, for £100,000 of qualifying R&D expenditure, the benefit under each incentive is as follows:

      BENEFITS OF R&D TAX CREDITS

      R&D tax credits exist to encourage companies in the UK to innovate, take on technically challenging projects, create highly skilled jobs and grow their business and the economy. At Cooper Parry we love nothing more than supporting businesses locally and nationally and are proud to provide a route to funding innovation.

      R&D TAX CREDITS QUALIFYING CRITERIA

      To qualify for R&D tax credits a company needs to be undertaking technical activities that meet the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (‘BEIS’) Guidelines on the Definition of R&D for Tax Purposes (you can download your own copy of the BEIS Guidelines here).

      So, what are the BEIS Guidelines, what do they tell us and how do you apply it to your company?

      To ensure that the generous incentives provided by the Government are completely industry agnostic BEIS drafted guidelines back in 2004 (and later updated in 2010) to set out exactly what does and does not qualify for R&D tax credit purposes. In defining qualifying R&D activities, the Guidelines focus on two key criteria, and state that to qualify a project must be:

      • Seeking to achieve an advance in the field of science or technology i.e. a ‘change’ of some sort
      • Through the resolution of scientific or technological uncertainty i.e. a ‘challenge’ of some sort

      That all sounds well and good, but what does it mean in practice? What is this advance and uncertainty?

      WHAT MAKES US THE NUMBER ONE R&D INCENTIVES PRACTICE IN THE REGION?

      We can uplift or de-risk every claim. 100%

      Even if your company has already made a claim talk to us. We’ve improved 100% of claims for our clients. Sometimes we uplift a claim. Sometimes we de-risk a claim which makes it more robust. Ensuring its correct. Basically, less wrong! We put in time and effort to ensure your claim is the best it can be. We’re different because we don’t expect you to write the claim yourself. We don’t restrict the time available for exploratory work. You’ll always get a copy of YOUR report.

      Our experience means we know what to look for

      We’ve worked on R&D tax credits and incentives since it all started in 2000. And our Tax Partner Chris Knott is involved in HMRC’s R&D Consultative Forum that helps set Governmental policy on R&D incentives. That means we know how it works and we understand the context behind each change. Not only are our team part of Tolley’s 2018 Best Regional Tax Practice, but they also specialise in technical areas such as IT, Engineering and Manufacturing, Food, Pharmacology and Science. So, when it comes to your business, whatever the industry, we know what we need to find. We have a proven ‘CP way’ of doing claims that works every time. Our experience means we understand what exactly can be claimed and what red-flags to avoid.

      Face to face communications and quicker claims

      You might consider R&D tax credit claims to be onerous and painstakingly slow. But with our experience, approach and relationship with HMRC, we have a slick process for getting claims submitted and approved. We’ll also keep you informed along the way. And we love visiting clients – their workshops, factories and offices. We’ll show you exactly what you can claim in real-time, and in good time. Fancy showing us around? We put time into getting to know your business. Our discovery meeting kicks off the process.