R&D tax relief claims up 375% in Scotland

The amount of money Scottish companies have claimed in research and development (R&D) tax relief savings has increased dramatically over the last seven years, but is still at a lower rate than the rest of the UK, according to new figures.

Statistics from HMRC showed businesses in Scotland displayed the lowest level of growth across the UK, despite claiming 375 per cent more in tax relief for R&D between 2010 and 2017.

Introduced in 2000, R&D tax credits were designed to drive competitiveness in British business by incentivising companies to invest in innovation.

The HMRC figures also show that businesses in Scotland accounted for 5 per cent of the total value of UK claims in the year 2016-17.

Some 1,900 claims were secured in Scotland for the period, with 1,425 of these being made by small and medium-sized enterprises (Smes),accountingforaround £75 million in tax rebates.

This compares with 39,960 claims during the 2016-17 period across the whole of the UK, with some 34,000 of these secured within the SME scheme.

Martin Gartley, Scottish business development manager at Edinburgh-headquartered R&D tax credit specialist Jumpstart, said: “While Scottish businesses started strongly in making claims in the earlier years of the scheme, other regions are catching up.

“We need to encourage more Scottish businesses which invest in innovation to ensure they seize the opportunity to make a claim for tax relief.” 0 Martin Gartley of R&D tax relief firm Jumpstart