Is my business eligible for R&D Tax Credits?
Wondering if your business is eligible for R&D Tax Credits? Your company may be eligible if it has undertaken projects involving innovation or technical advancements. R&D Tax Credits reward businesses that aim to overcome scientific or technological uncertainties, whether by developing new products, processes, or services or by enhancing existing ones.
To meet basic eligibility criteria, your business must:
- Be a UK-registered company liable for corporation tax.
- Conduct Research and Development (R&D) within its projects.
- Have incurred R&D expenses related to qualifying activities.
Further to this, your Research and Development must meet the following standard from HMRC:
According to HMRC, eligible R&D activities must:
- Aim to achieve an advance in knowledge or capability within the fields of science or technology.
- Work to resolve scientific or technical uncertainty.
- The uncertainty is not routine to solve by a competent person.
To read more about eligible R&D activities, please click here.
Eligible Expenditure
HMRC have set out parameters of what project costs are eligible to be claimed. These costs include:
- Staff costs – salaries, employer’s NIC and pension contributions and reimbursed business expenses.
- Materials and utilities that are used or transformed in the R&D process.
- Software costs.
- Subcontract costs (depends on the R&D scheme and where the subcontract activity occurs).
- Externally Provided Workers (EPWs).
To learn more about the eligible expenditure for your R&D projects, please click here.
Got a question regarding your eligibility? Book an appointment with our Senior R&D Tax Consultant
Call 
Back
