Gain some credit for your firm’s R&D work

QAI’ve heard of research and development (R&D) tax credits but assumed they were more applicable to manufacturers and IT. However, an architect friend tells me his firm received R&D tax credits. We are an innovative and forward thinking management consultancy. How would we assess if we qualify? YOU are not alone. Your friend is correct.

R&D tax credits are available to a range of businesses. Indeed, Royal Institute of British Architects publish a guidance leaflet for architects; we work with several and are successfully making significant R&D claims.

If you incur costs in developing new and improved products, processes or services you may well qualify.

We need to understand what, how, why you do what you do and what are the results of those actions.

Do these projects advance knowledge and clarify uncertainty?

The process is straightforward and we could advise after an initial meeting on your status.

The relief available is 230 per cent of the costs involved.

So if you spend £1,000, you get tax relief on that £1,000 and an additional £1,300.

The relief on your uplift will be an additional £260.

You can claim for those tax years that are open. If your year end is March 31, you could claim R&D for the tax years ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2016, provided your 2015 claim is submitted before March 31, 2017. The government said in November they intend to commit an additional £2 billion by 2020/2021 to proactively support R&D so consider the potential for your business and don’t miss out.