Newsletter issue - July 2013.
Did you know there is a tax relief for companies which invent stuff? The process of inventing and solving the associated problems is called research and development (R&D). Companies can more than double the tax deduction given for the costs of R&D.
The new 'stuff' could be a product, a material or a process which has been changed or improved. For example if you find a way of speeding up a production line, or changing the process to cope with a new type of material, the work to achieve that aim is R&D which should qualify for the tax relief.
Many innovative ideas don't actually work. That doesn't matter. The costs expended when working on your new idea are tax allowable as R&D, if you can show you were pushing the boundaries of knowledge or capability in the fields of science or technology.
Working on some types of computer programming can count as R&D, particularly where you are making previously unrelated computer systems work together. The key is that no-one else has done what you are trying to, or if they have achieved it, they have kept their discovery to themselves.
Talk to us about your innovative work. Even small costs are worth claiming as there is now no minimum claim for each year.