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Getting the best out of your R&D Tax Credits claim

Thinking of claiming for R&D Tax Credits? Great! With around £7.4 million claimed in the year ending March 2020 alone, even the smallest claims can be worth thousands.

But it’s no secret that putting together an R&D tax relief claim correctly and filing it with HMRC is difficult. It’s a complex process, posing a huge barrier and putting many would-be claimants off. Many business owners simply don’t have enough hours in the day to get their head around it, and may also not have the right resources to complete the process effectively.

Having a dedicated ecosystem that makes the process of claiming tax relief streamlined is a definite positive. And yes, while it’s tempting to ‘DIY’ a claim and attempt to decode HMRC jargon yourself, this is unlikely to end in success. That’s why many UK companies will use a professional, experienced R&D tax claims consultancy, or an online claims portal like the Tax Cloud. Because frankly, it makes the whole thing so much more straightforward.

Since its launch back in 2017, the Tax Cloud portal has been continuously tweaked and improved. Why not start off by using the Tax Cloud calculator to quickly enter in your own figures and see how much your company could claim?

So what are R&D Tax Credits?

The R&D Tax Credits scheme is a lucrative way of claiming back a sizeable portion (up to 33% in fact) of your company’s eligible research and development costs on a particular project. Any UK company of any size that has carried out eligible R&D work can apply for this generous tax relief, and there’s no minimum or maximum claim limit.

On successful application, the relief is administered either as a reduction against your company’s Corporation Tax or, if a loss was made, as a cash payment. This can be spent on anything, although many companies plough it back into further R&D projects.

A huge range of projects and costs are eligible for the rebate, including staff wages, materials and other overheads used up in the R&D process.

So if your company has made attempts to increase technical or scientific knowledge recently that left competent professionals scratching their heads, then R&D Tax Credits are likely to follow. It’s therefore well worth taking a look at our R&D Tax Credits page for more information.

Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of your claim.

Understand the R&D projects that your company is involved in

To make the entire claim process easier, we suggest starting from the bottom up, being thorough and ensuring you understand everything about your different R&D projects. Do this by identifying the different activities that are involved and understanding the qualifying costs that go along with them.

Again, this is where the Tax Cloud portal is so useful because our expert team are on hand at every stage to offer support. We’ll also check your eligibility right from the start, so there’s no risk of starting a claim only to find you’ve wasted your time further down the road.

Identify key contributors early on 

If you are carrying out a large research project that involves, say, 100 employees, we suggest pinpointing who the main scientific and technical staff involved are early on. They may be aware of details that you could miss and could help to identify extra costs that you could be claiming for.

Ensure you are producing contracts when necessary

If you are relying on subcontractors to carry out work for you, the costs involved could well be included in your claim. However, you will need to make sure that you are filling out the appropriate contracts. While HMRC do not ask specifically for contracts in every case, if an enquiry arises you may be required to show them exactly where every single penny for R&D was spent.

Keep your claim simple

While the R&D you are involved in may be clear to you, you need to make sure that it translates well to HMRC. If they fail to understand your claim, you risk them carrying out an enquiry.

The key way of conveying this information is in your R&D technical report. Make sure that your claim covers all the complexities of your project but in a simple and understandable way. We suggest avoiding using too much jargon and beginning to work on your claim at the start of the project. This way you be sure you are also really clear about the R&D you are involved in so you can make your writing concise.

Tax Cloud makes claiming R&D Tax Credits so easy

For many small businesses in particular, the Tax Cloud portal offers the perfect solution to claiming R&D Tax Credits. A simple, step-by-step way of putting together your figures, your R&D technical report and your final submission, it was developed by the R&D tax experts at Myriad Associates.

The beauty of the Tax Cloud portal is it allows you to log on from anywhere and put together your claim in a fully supported way at a time that’s convenient to you. And as it’s cloud-based, it’s securely accessible 24/7 with no annoying downloads or software needed.

Set out as a series of ‘stages’, the next stage will only unlock once you’ve finished the last one and our specialist team have checked it and provided feedback. This means that once your claim is finally submitted, you can rest assured it’s completely watertight and maximised.

Tax Cloud essentially takes all the guesswork out of claiming the R&D Tax Credit award your company rightfully deserves. You’re also drastically reduce your chances of an HMRC investigation into your wider tax affairs (no-one wants that after all).

Our fees are also only paid on success, with nothing to pay up front. This is a huge bonus, especially when right now every penny counts.

Try the demo and sign up today

To see more about Tax Cloud and how it works, try our free demo. Then when you’re ready, get signed up (again, it’s free!) and start your claim today.

Need to ask a question? Our team will be pleased to help. Feel free to call us on 020 7360 4437 or send us a message and we’ll call you back.