Corporate Tax, Research and Development tax credits tables have been released by HMRC.
These show that since 2000/01 when the R&D tax credit schemes were first launched, more than 74,000 claims have been made and over £7 billion of relief claimed. For the latest year figures are available (2010/11) it is estimated that the number of companies claiming R&D Tax Credits rose year on year by 8.4% to 10,920, equating to tax relief of circa £1.1 billion on £10.9 billion of R&D expenditure.
R&D tax credits are a tax relief designed to encourage greater R&D spending, leading in turn to greater investment in innovation. There are two schemes, one for large companies and one for small and medium sized companies. The R&D tax credits reduce a company’s corporation tax liability and in the case of a small or medium sized company with no corporation tax liability, a cash payment claim may be made instead.
Companies who believe they have incurred R&D expenditure should seek advice to ensure that the maximum amount of tax relief they may be entitled to has been claimed.