What Impact Will Coronavirus Have on Claiming R&D Tax Credits?

As the Coronavirus pandemic continues to cause great disruption and uncertainty for businesses all over the country, we have been given the latest information from HMRC on how the current situation affects R&D tax relief claims.

R&D Tax Credits are a valuable incentive to businesses at any time but now more than ever businesses will want to ensure their claims are on track and that there won’t be any delay in receiving funds.

 

Processing Claims

Whilst there is significantly increased pressure on their operational resources at this time, HMRC have advised us that it is a priority to maintain their published aim of clearing 95% of SME tax credit claims within 28 days. Contingency plans to support this have been implemented, including applying extra resource to the work. Currently they are meeting this aim.  

 

PAYE Cap

It was announced in the Budget 2018 that to deter abuse of the SME scheme, the amount of SME scheme payable tax credit that a business can receive in any one year will be capped at three times the company’s total PAYE and NICs liability. The government consulted on the application of such a cap in Spring 2019. Following considerations of the consultation responses, the government announced at Spring Budget 2020 that changes would be made to the PAYE cap design to minimise the impact on genuine businesses. It also announced that implementation of the cap would be delayed until April 2021 to allow for further consultation on the changes.

 

Expanding Scope of Qualifying Costs

The government will also be consulting on whether expenditure on data and cloud computing should qualify for R&D tax credits. The consultation will be published in due course.

 

What to do if your business isn’t already claiming R&D Tax Credits

If your business isn’t already claiming R&D Tax Credits, now is an ideal time to take a look and find out if you might be eligible. The team at R&D Funding Group are all working remotely from home at this time to ensure there is no interruption to our service during the COVID-19 outbreak so please don’t hesitate to contact us for a free, no-obligation consultation to find out more.

 

Ensure your business is claiming its full entitlement

If you are already claiming R&D Tax Credits, it’s always worth undertaking a regular review to ensure you are getting your full entitlement. Again, you can contact us for a free, no-obligation consultation if you would like to consider this.