Answer these 3 questions to see if you can receive £35k back into your business

Getting money back from the tax man is almost unheard of. The HMRC are often at the centre of the news, whether it is related to the tax deadline or the collapse of Carillion. And they regularly get a bad rap. But there is one government scheme administered by the HMRC that is almost universally acclaimed. It is a system where qualifying companies can see a massive amount of money coming back into their business.

Just how much money?

Well, our average claim on behalf of our clients is £35,000. Think about what a significant difference you could make with this –

• Paying off a tax bill
• Rewarding the team for their hard work
• Taking it out of the business for your own use
• Investing back into the business again

To know whether you have an eligible claim for this, look at our 3 questions below and find out how far a claim can go.

The scheme is called R&D tax credits. 

It is designed to reward businesses that invest. The government wants to help business in the UK become better at what they do and more competitive. This has been in place for many years, but we find that companies are not claiming because they don’t know enough about it or feel that they don’t have a qualifying claim.

Answer these three questions and you will have a good idea of how close you are to a claim for £35,000 –

Do you spend money on developing new services, processes or products?

This is the starting point. There aren’t many businesses that stand still. We all look at what we do and see if it can be done better. That is the nature of business. Our team and our customers demand something better all the time.

If you don’t keep improving, then you can lose customers to a rival. Nobody wants that.

Well, this constant process of improving is known as research and development. The traditional images conjured up when you read this phrase is white lab coats and weird experiments. In terms of the tax system, research and development, or R&D, is about developing what you do. 

So, there doesn’t have to be a lab coat in sight. All you need to have is money spent on developing new services, processes or products. This means that there are thousands of businesses out there that have a valid R&D tax claim, but don’t think they qualify because of the way they define R&D. If you know someone who might fall into this category, then get them in touch with us. The initial conversation only takes around half an hour and comes with no cost or obligation. Do them a favour and send them a link to this article.

Were these projects started in the last 2 to 3 years?

Like much of the tax system, there are time limits to when you can apply for R&D tax credits. Although the system has been in place for over a decade, you can only make claims for the current tax year, plus the last 2 tax years. This can mean that you miss out on some legacy claims, but don’t let that stop you investigating a current claim.

If you have never claimed R&D tax credits before, then the first claim can often be a big one. There is an astronomical number of claims that just expire because the business owner isn’t aware or doesn’t think they qualify. Don’t put yourself in this situation. Get in touch and we will explore this for you. We work on a no win, no fee basis, so you can rest assured you are in safe hands.

Do you employ people who work advancing the knowledge of your business and clarifying uncertainties?

This might sound like a complex matter, but what it breaks down into is – 

1. Do your team solve problems? (who doesn’t?)
2. Do they deal with things that you don’t already know the answers to?

These are often the prerequisites for starting on a research and development project. Don’t worry about how this is presented to the HMRC. We have been working on R&D tax credit claims for a number of years now, so we’ve got your back on this.

We have a 100% success rate with the tax man on R&D tax claims, so you can see that we know this inside out. If you have answered ‘yes’ to these questions, then call today and we’ll arrange to come and meet you, find out about your business and let you know how close you are to a £35,000 windfall for your business.