7 things that could improve the value of your R&D tax credit claim

By Wendy Smith, Jumpstart UK

You are already aware that R&D tax credits are a great, reliable way to finance further growth for a business. You may already have made enquiries about how R&D tax relief can apply to your business. You may even have tried to submit a claim yourself, or may have asked an R&D tax credit company to help you.

Well done! In the current economic climate many of us need help with raising finance for our businesses. This is why it is essential to investigate all support available.

However, ask yourself the following question: how do you know you are fully maximising the growth opportunity of R&D tax credits for your business? You may have missed out areas that could have bulked up your claim.

Take a look at the guide below. This should give you some pointers as to where you may be able to find additional eligible activity within your business:

LEGISLATION: List the technical challenges your company has faced in addressing legislative changes.

SUPPLIERS: List the technical challenges that have been addressed within your company faced in resolving problems with existing and new suppliers.

MARKET CHANGES: List the market changes, including changing customer demands, that have resulted in changes to your offering / product that created technical challenges.

OVER RUNS: List the projects that have overrun, in time or cost, due to technical challenges.

ENVIRONMENT: List the technical challenges you have dealt with as a result of changing your product/offering to deal with harsh or constantly changing environments.

PRODUCT: List the technical challenges which have arisen in redesigning your product.

PROCESS: List the technical challenges identified as a result of process improvement projects aimed at improving quality issues, reducing waste, reducing energy consumption or cost reduction.

If the resulting list is lengthy and a significant number of these challenges don’t appear in your R&D tax relief claim…you may wish to take the opportunity to revisit your claim.

PARTNERSHIP IS THE WAY TO GO

The key is to identify as much eligible expenditure as you can; the more you identify, the greater the value of the relief you’ll receive from HMRC. So the ideal partnership to deliver the best results for any client is the combination of a specialist technical R&D tax relief advisory firm such as Jumpstart, who speaks both your language and HMRC’s; and your accountant. In collaboration they can manage the assessment, preparation and submission on your behalf, ensuring you receive the biggest return for the least possible effort.

Our technology-based approach to claim preparation is undertaken by qualified Analysts with extensive industry experience in their own specific fields of science or technology. Our Technical Analysts are not only industry sector experts, but equally knowledgeable when it comes to HMRC’s legislation, ensuring maximised, accurate and robust claims.

In a climate where the value of claims being disputed by HMRC has grown by almost 400% over a twelve-month period, the fact that we offer free enquiry defence as standard on every claim we prepare and submit gives our clients a cast-iron security.

To arrange a free consultation to discuss your own R&D tax relief specific circumstances, to identify how we can work with your team to improve the claim process and realise greater value for your business, contact the Jumpstart team on 0131 240 2900 or [email protected].