Research & Development Tax Credits

R&D Tax Credits are a UK government incentive, designed to financially encourage and reward businesses for spending money on innovation.

Types of R&D Incentives

If you've spent money on research and development, you can claim against these costs and recoup money, or a corporation tax reduction, based on how much you've spent

R&D Tax Credits

For small-to-medium size enterprises, the research and development tax credits incentive allows you to claim back money, or reduce your corporation tax bill. Find out how much you can claim…

RDEC

For large companies & groups, the research and development expenditure credit incentive can offset corporation tax for all the companies in the group and deliver a cash injection as well…

Business Grants

For companies of any size, there are many different types of grants available for helping innovation and other projects, which can help grow your business. We help you to find grants, bid for them and win them…

What counts as Research & Development?

Our R&D consultants will help you to identify what your business does and the qualifying expenditure that is covered by the R&D Tax Credits incentive.

If your business has done any of the following, even if your work is still in progress, or was unsuccessful, you may be eligible to claim back a portion of the costs you incurred, via the R&D Tax Credits, or R&D Expenditure Credit (RDEC) incentives:

Attempted to advance or improve a product or process
Attempted to overcome technical challenges
Attempting to make an advance in your field
Attempting to overcome an uncertainty, for which the solution isn't common knowledge which could easily be solved by a competent professional

How to Claim R&D Tax Credits

How To Claim Research & Development Tax Credits

Documents

Step 1

Documents required to calculate the value of your claim

If your company hasn’t claimed R&D Tax Credits before, it can backdate the claim for the last previous two accounting years. We therefore request your last two years company accounts (with profit & loss), tax returns (CT600) and tax computations, to enable us to calculate your claim value.

Claim Value

Step 2

We Discuss What Qualifies & Calculate the Value of Your Claim

We discuss & identify the work you do that qualifies, as well as the associated expenditure, which gives us the information we require to finalise the value of your claim and to write the R&D Narrative which is submitted alongside it, showcasing what you do and why you’re eligible.

Submission

Step 3

To submit your claim, we require your authorisation to do so

Once you’ve decided if you want a cash refund or a future tax benefit (reduction of corporation tax bills), we’ll need your authorisation and a little more company information to enable us to submit the claim and track its progress. Claims are typically settled within 3 months.

Read our How to Claim R&D Tax Credits guide for more detailed information

R&D Statistics

According to UK Government statistics, UK business spending on innovation under the R&D schemes totalled over £44 billion pounds between 1st April 2021 and 31st March 2022.

This resulted in HMRC paying £7.6 billion pounds to companies under the two R&D incentives, £4.8 billion in R&D Tax Credit payment and £2.8 billion in RDEC payments.

90,315 companies claimed in total across both incentives, which equated to over £44 billion in UK R&D expenditure.

The average claim value was over £84,000 (£53,000 in R&D Tax Credits and £251,000 in RDEC).

For more, read our article on R&D Statistics.

Total claimed by UK businesses last year

£7.6 billion pounds

Total claimed by SME's (R&D Tax Credits) last year

£4.8 billion pounds

Total claimed by large companies (RDEC) last year

£2.8 billion pounds

UK business innovation spending

£ b

Claims made last year

Average claim value

£ k

Total claimed last year

£ b

Frequently Asked Questions

Learn how to get the most of the tax system for both corporate and individual income.

R&D Tax Credits FAQ's

What are R&D Tax Credits?

R&D Tax Credits is a government incentive for businesses, which aims to help fuel British innovation. It does so by returning some of the costs incurred undertaking R&D, via either a cash refund or a future tax benefit (reduction in future corporation tax bills).

Who can claim R&D Tax Credits?

Any business that is eligible for corporation tax; namely private limited companies (LTD’s), public limited companies (PLC’s) and Community Interest Companies (CIC’s).R

How much can my business claim?

The amount you can claim is based on a few factors, mainly your R&D expenditure. The average claim value (based on UK government 2021/22 statistics) is over £50,000. Some R&D claims companies offer online calculators, but they’re wildly inaccurate, they’re just designed to lure you into starting the process to find out how much you can actually claim. To find out exactly how much you can claim, we need the relevant accounting documents and a conversation with you.

What counts as research and development?

The phrase ‘research and development’ tends to conjure images in the mind’s eye of Petri dishes, rocket ships and advanced computer programming. Whilst these areas are likely to be eligible, the government’s definition of R&D is much more inclusive. Many of our customers are in construction, manufacturing and other industries. If you have attempted to advance, or improve, a product, service or process, or if you’ve attempted to overcome technical challenges, or make an advance in your field, then there’s a good chance that you’re eligible for the R&D Tax Credits scheme. Our R&D consultants are experts at finding the R&D in different businesses, so it’s best to have a quick chat with them about what you do and they’ll shed more light on this for you.

How do I claim R&D Tax Credits?

Our process is straightforward and fast. Read our how to claim R&D tax credits guide for more information about how to claim research and development tax credits, or get in touch with us.

Why hasn't my accountant done this already?

Most of our clients accountants focus on their company accounts and tax returns, which is their area of expertise. R&D Tax Credits are a niche area of business accountancy, which it’s wise to use a specialist for. Companies can make R&D claims themselves, without an accountant, or R&D consultant, but the probability of making an error is very high and mistakes can cause big issues. Unfortunately, like in many industries, there are R&D claims companies who lack experience and expertise, who give the industry a bad name. We pride ourselves on our expertise and delight in serving customers who have had bad experiences elsewhere.

RDEC FAQ's

Who can claim RDEC?

Companies who have more than 500 employees, or have a turnover over €100m (the rules are still in Euros as they were written when the UK was an EU member) per year are eligible for the Research and Development Expenditure Credit (RDEC) scheme, instead of R&D Tax Credits. The RDEC scheme works slightly differently…

What's the difference between Tax Credits and RDEC?

The main difference is that the benefits aren’t just limited to one company, they can be spread across a group of linked companies (either linked via ownership or directors).

Why hasn't my accountant done this for me already?

Most of our clients accountants focus on their company accounts and tax returns, which is their area of expertise. R&D Tax Credits and RDEC are niche areas of business accountancy, which it’s wise to use a specialist for. Companies can make R&D claims themselves, without an accountant, or R&D consultant, but the probability of making an error is very high and mistakes can cause big issues. Unfortunately, like in many industries, there are R&D claims companies who lack experience and expertise, who give the industry a bad name. We pride ourselves on our expertise and delight in serving customers who have had bad experiences elsewhere.

How does RDEC work?

RDEC enables loss-making companies to claim a credit worth up to 20% of research and development expenditure. So, if the company has no tax liability, it can claim a cash credit or a reduction of corporation tax in future.

How do I claim RDEC?

As the RDEC scheme is a little more complex than R&D Tax Credits, it’s best to start off with a conversation with one of our RDEC consultants. Send us an email, or give us a call, to schedule a convenient appointment time with an advisor.

Satisfied Customers

"I've been claiming R&D Tax Credits for years using different claims companies, I've found them all hard work for various reasons. Researchanddevlopmenttaxcredits.com are the best that I've used, so I'll be sticking with them from now on. Honest, professional, effective and a pleasure to deal with."

Sarah

Director

"I'd never heard of R&D Tax Credits until a friend recommended me to your company. You've really helped my business and I can't thank you enough. As a company that invests heavily in research and development already, using this incentive has helped us to invest even more and grow the business."

Alexander