R&D tax relief scheme has been funding research and development projects across the UK for years, and every year numerous companies claim relief for their qualifying R&D projects. R&D tax credits provide a financial boost to innovative companies to stabilise their cashflows. The number of claims has significantly increased in previous years. Still, according to our experience, the majority of those who claim are not fully aware of the full potential of their R&D claims. That’s because R&D tax relief is a very remunerative scheme but is also a little complex to understand fully. HMRC provides detailed guidelines covering various technicalities of the claim, which requires experience in the field to understand each part of it. Such technical areas include qualifying conditions, eligible R&D expenditures, the effect of grants and subsidies on your R&D claim, and conditions that restrict the access of schemes. Moreover, R&D schemes are constantly changing due to increased fraudulent claims; HMRC has increased restrictions such as PAYE CAPS on the R&D tax credits. In 2023 more restrictions are expected to come into effect to mitigate fraudulent claims.
If you don’t want your claim to be rejected and want to prepare a robust claim with maximum incentives, you need to understand the complexities of the R&D tax relief scheme. The easiest solution to this is getting expert advice from an experienced R&D tax consultant who knows every minor detail of regulations and can help you on each step.
Whether you are claiming for the first time or have experience with R&D claims, it is always better to take an expert’s advice to get maximum benefits. Getting help from an R&D tax consultant can be beneficial for your claim more than you think!
Numerous companies offer R&D tax relief claim services in the UK, which makes it hard to find reliable and competent R&D tax consultants.
First, you need to decide what kind of R&D tax consultant you need for your claim. This means you need to have clear expectations from the consultant, whether you want your consultant to claim on your behalf or you just need assistance in making an R&D claim.
You will find three types of R&D tax consultants in the UK:
The R&D tax specialists offer R&D claim services which often include taking care of the whole process of your claim, from eligibility assessment to financial calculations. R&D tax specialists even prepare a technical narrative for your claim and submit it to HMRC on your behalf.
There are some service providers who, based on their experience, provide technical support in preparing R&D claims, and some also have platforms which can give automated calculations for the claim.
Some accountants also offer R&D tax consultancy, in which they do financial computations and assist you in preparing an R&D technical narrative.
If your qualifying R&D expenditure is a small one, you can risk preparing a claim yourself. But if your claim value is bigger, then there are chances that HMRC might inspect your claim closely. Therefore, you need an R&D tax consultant to meticulously prepare an R&D tax relief claim for you. Assistance from a competent R&D tax consultant is also crucial for more extensive claims. For a larger claim, computations are also complicated and need an expert to ensure the accuracy of all the calculations.
While looking for a consultant, make sure the R&D tax consultant you choose offers more than deep knowledge of R&D claims. The competent consultants will not only prepare an accurate technical narrative, which you can do by yourself too, but they also offer experience and knowledge of strongly presenting your claim to HMRC.
As HMRC has increased the number of enquiries, though chances of an HMRC enquiry are low if your claim is prepared accurately and is of less value. But if your claim is big, there are high chances of enquiry, so it’s better to consult an adept R&D tax consultant who can deal with an enquiry on your behalf.
Many people claim R&D tax relief by themselves successfully, especially if the claim value is smaller. Of course, you can claim by yourself, but there’s a high risk of HMRC enquiry, which you can reduce by getting help from R&D tax consultants.
Square Finance is a team of skilful and experienced R&D tax consultants who helps its clients prepare robust R&D tax credits assisting on every step of your claim. We will not only prepare your claim but also strongly defend your claim in the HMRC enquiry. So contact us to start your R&D tax relief claim process with our R&D tax consultant.