Summary
To qualify for R&D Tax Credits relief, theprojectneedsto beseekinganadvance in scienceortechnologyby the overcoming ofscientific ortechnological uncertainties. In addition, the resolution of these uncertaintiesmust not be readily deducibleby a competent professionalworkingwithinthefield.Thismeans that if you are developing something that issignificantly‘better’thanyour competitors or making significant improvements to an existing product/service/process/material, your workprobably contains qualifying R&D.
What is an advancein science or technology?
An advance in science or technology means an advance inoverall knowledge or capabilityin a field ofscienceortechnology(not a company’s own state of knowledge orcapability alone).
What isscientific ortechnicaluncertainty?
Scientific or technological uncertainty exists when knowledge of whether something is scientifically possible or technologically feasible;or how to achieve it in practice is not readily available in the public domain or deducible by a competent professional working in the field.
What are qualifying R&D activities?
A number ofdifferentdirectly contributingand indirectly qualifyingactivitiesareeligiblefor R&DTaxCreditrelief. Thesecaninclude work that you doto develop your own products/services and in some circ*mstances, work that isdoneon client projects.A non-exhaustive list of eligibleactivitiescan be found below:
- Design adaption and optimisation
- Design Analysis
- Prototyping
- Testing
- Production trials
- Process / System / ProductDesign Evaluation
- Process / System / Product DesignDevelopment
Information Management Systems, develop, as to provide a faster and more efficient workflow internally
- Feasibility Studiesundertakento understand the strategic direction of the R&D project
- R&D project planning
- R&D project administration and support activities, directly contributing to R&D project delivery
- The training required to directly support an R&D project
All ofthe above activities must be focusedonachievingan advance in science or technology.Work toovercome non-scientific/technological uncertaintiesisnot R&D.
What are not qualifying R&D activities?
Activities which do not directly contribute to the resolution ofscientific or technological uncertainty include:
- The range of commercial and financial steps necessary forinnovation.
- Work to develop non-scientific or non-technologicalaspects of a new or appreciably improved process,material, device,productor service.
- The production and distribution of goods and services.
- Businessadministration and other supporting services.
- General support servicesnot relating to R&D(such as transportation,storage, cleaning, repair,maintenanceand security).
If you are unsure whether your work qualifies as R&D please contact us and our specialist consultants will be able to help.
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