If I could ask companies to do one thing, it would be to get a free assessment for R&D tax credits.
Regardless of your position, industry or business model, more times than not there is some sort of R&D going on. In a highly competitive marketplace, chances are you are trying to do something different to your competitors to differentiate your value. And it may be that your business model is not based on R&D, but somewhere in your operations, there is an R&D practice happening to improve your business – whether the processes, systems or product/service offerings.
More than 90% of eligible SMEs are failing to claim R&D tax credits. It’s highly likely you sit in that 90%.
While a specialist’s day-to-day job is to make R&D tax credit claims on behalf of their clients, their ultimate goal is to help the UK reach its target of 2.4% GDP on research and development. The bigger picture involves spreading awareness and making sure that all eligible companies can access the relief to support businesses growth and innovation.
And free assessments are exactly how. This can be as short as a 15-minute telephone conversation, or as detailed as a technical assessment where they go through your company accounts, tell you which of your costs they think qualify and how much you could benefit.
This, in most cases, comes at no cost or obligation to use their services.
Even if your accountant thinks you don’t have a claim, get a second opinion from a specialist. You can always go back to your accountant and claim in house if that’s what’s best for your business.
Until a specialist tells you otherwise, you can’t rule yourself out. Go a step further and get at least two – in the past we’ve spoken to people who were signed on with an R&D tax specialist informing them that they had no claim to make, when in fact they did.
It can be as easy as dropping a message on Linkedin.