R&D tax credit – 31 March deadline
March 4, 2020

Research and development tax creditTax credit for research and development deadline

There are big tax savings to be gained with research and development tax credits. With the end of March deadline fast approaching, it is important you act now to make the most of your allowances. Michael Chadwick, founding Director of Chadwick & Company, explains how you can use tax credits for research and development to reduce your corporation tax bill.

At this stage in the financial year, many of our clients review their books and records, reconcile bank accounts and synchronise cloud based accounting systems to get an initial idea of profit and year-end tax figures.​

As accountants we then confirm the figures, identify any errors and correctly calculate the tax liability. However, before this happens, there is still time for us to look back up to two years (to April 2018) and consider if there is any qualifying research and development expenditure that might significantly reduce corporation tax liability.

Research and development qualifying activities

There are a various ways to qualify for tax credits for research and development, for example factories making bespoke products for individual customers or software developers creating specialist computer programmes are eligible. Businesses in the healthcare sector can also claim for drug research and development or bringing new medicines to market. Whatever industry you are in, if you are involved in developing new or improved products that help you stay one step ahead of your competitors, your activities may be eligible. So it is well worth checking with an expert as savings can be significant.

Tax credits for research and development – explained

Research and development tax relief allows you to claim up to 230% of your qualifying expenditure and offset it against your total taxable profit.

The first 100% comes by deducting the expenditure from your total profit, as with any expenditure. Once this has been deducted we can then claim a further 130% of the expenditure in the tax calculation. This 230% is sometimes referred to as double tax relief on research and development.

Even if your company is making a loss, we can still double claim the expenditure back and obtain a repayment from HMRC.

Why choose us to manage your research and development tax credit claim

Our team of qualified accountants and tax specialists have successfully made scores of research and development tax relief claims, some resulting in refunds from HMRC of tens of thousands of pounds for our clients, across a variety of industries.

If you think that you may qualify for research and development tax relief, we will be happy to help with your claim. We have a thorough understanding of research and development legislation and provide a fully managed service to ensure your claim is processed accurately and efficiently.

Read more about how to claim your tax credit for research and development. Alternatively, you can email or call us on 0161 370 9600 to find out more.

You can also read more about us and the way we work.

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