It is essential that SMEs start to reap the benefits of R&D post Brexit and here is why..

The news about the government’s R&D boost is a timely reminder that UK businesses are still losing out on generous R&D savings. Over the past year there has been a 20% increase to the overall HMRC R&D hand out, totaling to £2.9bn. Approximately half this was claimed by SMEs, which is almost £61,000 per company.

While the number of claims has slightly risen by 19%, this is still proving to be less than 1% of UK Company’s claiming the R&D tax relief. This indicates that a significant amount of businesses are not claiming due to being unaware of the extent of claimable activities and the significant tax refunds achievable.

The R&D Tax scheme is in place to encourage businesses to remain competitive in a global market and this is now more important than ever with Brexit on the horizon.

The R&D tax relief can provide additional cash tax savings of 26% of a company’s R&D spend and if the company is not profitable the cash credit attainable can be up to 33.35%.

Many people assume that R&D is purely for white coats and laboratories and while there are a significant amount of software and manufacturing claims, successful claims have also been made in agriculture, construction and hospitality industries.

The available tax relief is very generous; however it is essential that claims are accurately made in order to meet HMRC requirements. If you are considering making a claim and would like the concern of failing to meet HMRC requirements eliminated from the process, contact a Swanson Reed R&D Tax Advisor today. Swanson Reed specialise is purely R&D Tax; therefore are experts in this field and can guarantee to provide you with the best tax relief attainable.