As we have started the new year with encouraging news about vaccines and hopefully a more positive outlook on the year ahead than perhaps we might have had six months ago, when many business owners thoughts were more focused on survival, it’s important to refocus on those sustainability goals that many businesses have.

We’ve been trying to work out how to make our tax consultancy more “Sustainable”, but its difficult, we work from a serviced office so have little impact on the choices of services. We come to work and travelled to our clients through a mixture of train and car, we could use cars less, but they are convenient but haven’t done so since lockdown. Since the onset of the first lockdown we have made use of services like Zoom and MS Teams to keep interacting with our customers.

So perhaps in a way, we have stumbled into being slightly more sustainable, will we maintain this as we come out of the other side of Covid? Who knows? It’s difficult not being on a client’s premises, certainly when it comes to the engineering and manufacturing sectors that we support with Research and Development Tax Credit claims, being on site gives you a feel for what’s going on, especially if you have a curious nature which we tend to have, because of what we do. When we ask questions based on what we see, hear and feel, generally speaking the potential to claim increases.

Sustainability doesn’t have to be expensive, it doesn’t have to be huge grand gestures, it will be the sum of all of the little changes that we make in both our personal lives and in business that will be greater than the whole.

That being said, if in business you are looking for that one big project, that world beating new piece of technology, or an idea to revolutionise the agricultural industry or the renewables industry, or to reduce waste, then it might be expensive, it might be time consuming, but there are plenty of ways that you can find support from government.

Business funding opportunities

There are a number of competitive grant schemes that have these sustainable elements at the core, you only have to check out UK Research and Innovation  (www.ukri.org) where there are over 100 opportunities for business funding. Granted not all of them are focused on sustainability but there will be a significant number, particularly with the advent of the government’s Industrial Strategy and its continuing signals that in the new post-Brexit world, we won’t be left behind when it comes to research and innovation.

Then there’s research and development tax relief. If you are lucky enough to have successfully received a grant, you may be somewhat surprised to hear that you could also benefit from tax relief for spending the money that you have received from the grant. You can claim under the RDEC scheme, whether you are a large company or an SME for the grant-funded projects, which for money spent since 1 April 2020 will generate either a tax rebate of up to 10.53% of the eligible costs or in the event you are loss-making a cash injection of the same 10.53%, so in a way you are having your cake and eating it.

If you are a small company and you either didn’t apply for a grant or weren’t successful in your application, but have decided to go it alone regardless then you could in fact be in line for an even greater cash injection for a loss making company of up to 33.35% of your eligible spend, if you are profitable it will reduce your tax liability by up to 24.7% of the eligible spend.

The last way the government can help is through Patent Box. If your new product is so ground breaking that you are looking to Patent it and are successful in being granted a patent, you could reduce your tax bill further, as a result of the profits being generated on the sale of the items being taxed at a reduced rate of 10%.

How Cooden can help

As we move forward in 2021, our goal is to be able to help you with all of these aspects of funding for innovation, as we look to grow our business by incorporating a business grants element to our existing family of services, which already focus on R&D and Patent Box.

In the meantime, one of the things that we have been doing is offering a reduction in our fees for companies that are developing green technology, sustainable agriculture and renewables. We’ve worked with a few companies this year and are looking to find and support more businesses that are working in these high value areas that will help all of us to be a little more sustainable in our lives. If you would like to have a chat to determine whether you have an eligible project, sustainable or not then you can book a 15 minute call with our director, Simon Bulteel.

Ultimately it feels like a lot of us accidentally became more sustainable as a result of Covid, but in spite of this, it will be great to put 2020 behind us and make the most of our new discoveries and get back to making good on our original sustainability goals as we grow into 2021.

The post Did sustainability take a back seat to survival in 2020? appeared first on Cooden Tax Consulting.

Over the past 6 months the team processing and enquiring into claims for Research and Development Tax Credits have been overwhelmed by the volume of claims that they have received.

This has led to delays and backlogs from February to September, it was the same last year. This year HMRC thought they were ready for the increase in workload, but nearly 9,000 claims were received in March 2019, that’s nearly 20% of the number of claims submitted last year and they were already dealing with a backlog of claims from December.

The member in charge of the department explained to those of us at the committee meeting, the issues they had faced and the plans they had put into practice.

It’s not often that people go out of their way to praise HM Revenue and Customs, but here I go.

HMRC have been very good at communicating with myself and my fellow professionals over the last 9 months on the processing of claims for R&D Tax Relief. They do this by e-mail almost every Monday for members or pending members of their Research and Development Consultative Committee and also meet with members every 6 months to discuss everything there is to know about R&D Tax Relief.

The last meeting was in mid-September and as I mentioned above, I was lucky enough to receive an invite to the meeting. HMRC have now realised that the small niche team that they have assembled to handle the processing and enquiries into claims, just can’t handle the volume of claims being received from Small and Medium-sized businesses like yours.

They have identified that their skill and expertise is in the handling of the enquiries, so over the past three months, together with trying to handle the backlog, they have been busy training members of the larger. Business Tax & Operations team on how to process the refund claims. This team have already been overseeing the processing of the claims that have simply reduced a claimant’s corporation tax charge.

Such a change is to be applauded, some of the companies that are claiming are pre-funding start-ups, or loss making businesses who have spent their limited funds on R&D and were happy in the knowledge that HMRC were trying to process claims within 28 days. I am sure there are one or two companies who have really struggled and may have even folded as a result of the delays, I have one or two who have been desperate for their refunds to have been received. So to have to be waiting over three months for your R&D Tax Credit can be a killer of businesses.

This change should allow HMRC to return to their stated goals of 28 days and to hopefully stay there for a longer period of time. We are all used to expecting a slight delay when there are peaks in use , but I think even HMRC were brave enough to admit that their service to their customers over the last six months has been bordering on unacceptable. It’s probably good news for them that they operate a monopoly on taxation, otherwise we might have taken our business elsewhere.

Why is this relevant to you I hear, well, if you are developing a new or appreciably improved product, process, service or device that has required you to overcome a scientific or technological challenge, as a result of these changes in how HMRC process claims, it means that there has never been a better time to claim. You won’t have to wait over three months for your refund, you should have it within 28-35 days (it takes some extra time to process the repayment)

We can help you to determine whether your project meets HMRC’s criteria and work with you to prepare a robust technical report and calculations for your R&D Tax Relief claim.

The post Out with the old and in with the new – embracing change appeared first on Cooden Tax Consulting.

Have you got ideas to grow your business or develop a new product, but not quite enough money, expertise or resources to make it happen?

The University of Brighton’s Green Growth Platform is working with East Sussex County Council on LoCASE Business Grant programme, which offers local businesses money to help them grow.

Businesses can get a 40 percent contribution towards a project to grow their business, up to a maximum of £10,000.

The money is available to any small to medium sized businesses that helps its customers do their bit for the environment. That can include:

• Plumbers
• Electricians
• Environmental consultants
• Renewable energy specialists
• Landscaping and tree surgeons
• Recycling and waste management firms.
• Building technologies
• Architects designed low carbon buildings
• Building firms installing energy saving technologies such as insulation or double glazing.

Businesses can put together a shopping list of items to spend the grant on, including:

• Marketing
• Website
• IT, software & phone systems
• Tools & equipment
• Plant, machinery & facilities hire
• Consultancy
• Product development
• Energy efficiency upgrades

The money is limited and already £250,000 has been awarded to local businesses. Don’t miss out contact:

greengrowthplatform@brighton.ac.uk

Tel: 01273 641949

Website: www.greengorthplatform.co.uk and go to the LoCASE pages.

Read more about business funding opportunities.

Read more about Cooden Consulting.

The post Money available for East Sussex business appeared first on Cooden Tax Consulting.

The scheme allows for businesses that qualify to claim R&D Tax Relief. It is a form of tax relief introduced by the government in 2000-01 and exists to alleviate the financial pressure of R&D to business and encourage innovation.

Profitable companies get tax relief of up to 26% of the spend, loss making companies are able to surrender the R&D element of their loss for a R&D Tax Credit of up to 33.35% of the spend.

If you are liable for corporation tax, then you could be eligible for a R&D Tax Relief claim.

Could Research and Development Tax Credits help your business achieve its goals?

In 2015-16, the overall number of Research and Development (R&D) Tax Relief claims increased by 19% from the previous year. The number of small & medium-sized enterprises’ (SME) claims increased by a staggering 22% to nearly 22,000 and between them they have claimed nearly £1.3 billion in tax relief, that’s an average claim size of nearly £60,000 cash back into the business. Large company claims have also seen a 5% increase in claims.

There are a number of reasons for the increase, the most prominent being the removal of a requirement for a minimum R&D expenditure of £10,000 in 2012. This has allowed for more companies to be eligible to claim R&D Tax Relief. This paired with increases in the enhanced expenditure rate and the SME payable tax credit rate between 2012 and 2016, have made the scheme more accessible.

The rise of specialist companies like Cooden Tax Consulting have also had a significant impact in the take up of R&D Tax Credits by companies performing scientific or technological research and development. We have helped companies like yours to claim over £4.5 million since we started in September 2013.

The industries that have proven to have the highest volume of claims are the Manufacturing, Scientific and Technical, Information and communication, and Professional sectors. The aforementioned sections made up 75% of the total amount claimed in 2015-16, that’s £2.175bn worth of claims.

Read more about us.

To find out if you could be eligible for a R&D Tax Relief claim, contact Cooden Tax Consulting on 01424 225345 today. Don’t let your competitors get a head start!

The post R & D Tax Relief claims are on the rise! Are you missing out? appeared first on Cooden Tax Consulting.

While voices on both sides of the forthcoming EU Referendum on June 23^rd tend to market their cause to us all in fairly bold and strident terms, clearly very determined to convince us that their argument is the winning one, does anyone truly fully understand, whether we stay or go, what the repercussions for the UK’s Small Businesses might be?

Well, without wishing to cause offence to the Danes, to paraphrase one of their more famous marketing slogans: Probably not.

Seeking Clarity from the Confusion

Key word research for this article pinpointed the dilemma that many undecided voters in the UK might be facing over the referendum.

If you search single words, such as Brexit or look for monthly hits on the names of principle players in the debate, such as David Cameron, Boris Johnson or Nigel Farage, there appears to be a substantial amount of interest. However, those words don’t help us to identify what research or questions people might be asking, they merely identify an interest, (quite possibly, in the latter cases, not related to Brexit) we might reasonably have guessed at.

If you search for results for questions, such as “What is Brexit or “When is the EU referendum” a shockingly low amount of interest is indicated by the figures revealed. Try almost any other combination of relevant words and the results simply get more and more disappointing, almost as if people aren’t that interested at all.

It’s hard to be conclusive, but could it be that, possibly resultant from the blood and guts style battle going on between the two factions, with seemingly very little real concern about what the effect on the people of the UK might be, that the biggest civilian casualty in this war of words is continuing wide scale ignorance?

Do those in power really care about that – probably not.

A few pointers then…

The suggested short term threat of loss of jobs and loss of financial support for small businesses, following Brexit, is a key area of interest at Cooden Tax Consulting.

We offer advice to small businesses on how they may recoup costs, where expenditure can be shown to have been occasioned on Research and Development Projects and, as per recent articles on Micro-brewing and the effects on the soft drinks industry as a result of Mr Osbornes Sugar Tax, we seek to offer precise and salient advice that is relevant and will matter to entrepreneurs all across the UK.

Fact 1: A lot of the cash that is made available currently through R & D Tax Relief payments for innovation and exploration in industry and business ventures comes from the EU.

If you want to better understand the nature of Research and Development here, how the UK distributes this money and what the measurement of the value of Research and Development is in terms of the UK’s wider economy you could make a good start reading the 350 plus pages of the following document:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368808/bis-14-1179-united-kingdom-partnership-agreement-part-one.pdf

You would then be a lot better informed, but in presenting that option, understandably: a lot is being asked of the average man in the street, or indeed, of any small business owner, who will probably have more than enough on his plate keeping his business afloat and profitable.

Fact 2: Soundbites, which this article is deliberately not offering, are taken from publications such as that above and referral constantly made to other literature from various think-tanks, some more respected than others, in an effort to convince businesses to vote in or out at the referendum. Does referral to these massively complicated publications really help us? Or do we sigh deeply and prefer , feeling bamboozled and uncertain, to order another round, maybe of Carlsberg, maybe not – to soften the blows.

Fact 3: Cooden Tax Consulting has gained an in depth understanding of the detail because, as bedtime reading, to aid a restful night’s slumber, we have explored the nitty-gritty of such papers. Having done so, we are able to offer guidance to Small Businesses as specialists, with detailed knowledge of Research and Development Tax Relief. We can advise you, having looked at your particular project and identified the correct route for you to pursue an application for relief, whether or not the cash you hope to get back will come from the EU pot and whether, should we leave that institution, it is likely to still be available in the future.

You may, quite legitimately, ask how?

In the absence of a Crystal Ball, we have to apply some Common Sense

The one valuable and overwhelming message that shines from the pages of the document at the above link, is that funding research and development properly is a core element in building a strong economy.

It’s also true that the UK has a good reputation globally for undertaking new research and delivering innovative ideas for industry and business.

Consequently, were we to leave the EU and find ourselves a smaller fish in a bigger global pond, there is good reason to believe that the UK Government, of whatever political persuasion, would want to continue to fund R & D Tax Relief to the best of its ability.

That of course sets afloat a raft of questions about where the money would come from and who the potential winners and losers in the new economic landscape might be.

Pro campaigners will very likely tell you that the uncertainty is reason enough to stay in the EU. Voices urging us to leave might argue that our proven skillset in the world of R&D will offer us huge new opportunities to lead the world, free from the shackles of EU legislation and restrictions.

In short, it seems unlikely that R&D Tax Relief programmes would disappear following the vote on June 23^rd. However, just as it is becoming impossible to predict the result, in truth, it’s also impossible to say exactly how either outcome will affect R & D for small businesses.

Does that help you decide – probably not? If you want to be better informed you will have to take time to delve in to the detail.

However, Cooden Tax Consulting is here and will remain here, (as Sussex hasn’t yet launched its campaign for independence) to guide you to a better understanding of what you might be able to recoup. In so doing, we’ll help businesses, all across the UK, to continue to prosper.

The post BREXIT – Should we? Does anyone really know? appeared first on Cooden Tax Consulting.

It doesn’t matter what the source of the “funding”, it could be from a start-up loans company (Virgin Start Ups, The Princes Trust on a National Level or Let’s Do Business on a regional level in the South-East or Finance for Enterprise in Yorkshire & Humberside, indeed any one of a multitude of other organisations), a bank loan, a Smart Grant from Innovate, an Enterprise Grant from a local council or Local Enterprise Partnership or a Crowdfunding campaign (Seedrs, CrowdCube, Crowdfunder, KickStarter, IndieGoGo, Zopa, Funding Circle or similar), it’s what you do with the funding that counts.

Different types of funding and the company’s financial position will determine how much Research and Development Tax Relief you will be able to claim. It ranges from 8.8% of the spend under a claim for Research and Development Expenditure Credit all the way up to 33.35% for a claim for R&D Tax Credits.

Here are just a few scenarios:-

1 – A company took out a Start-up loan of £25k from Let’s Do Business, £20k spent on salaries for staff engaged completely in Research and Development on an eligible project, the company has no income and has spent the other £5k on marketing. The company can claim R&D Tax Credits of £6,670 (a whopping 33.35% of its original spend), this is cash that the government will pay to you if you surrender the loss brought about by the companies R&D Spend.

2 – An established SME company took out a bank loan worth £25k, the company spent £20k of the loan on an external contractor to perform some work on an eligible R&D Project. The company made taxable profits of £50k in the financial year and would have had a tax bill of £10k, the company claims for R&D Tax Relief on its £20k spend, it reduces its taxable profits to £33,100 and therefore has a reduced tax bill of £6,620, a tax saving of £3,380 (a generous 16.9% of their original spend).

3 – A tech start-up company received a £25k proof of concept SMART Grant from Innovate UK, it spent £20k of that money on salaries, the other £5k covers office admin costs, which aren’t eligible for R&D Tax Relief. The company makes a loss for tax of £20k. The company is able to claim for the Research and Development Expenditure Credit, which generates an immediate payment from HMRC of £1,738 (8.69% of the original spend) and will generate a further £462 when the company becomes profitable (a total of 11%). The reason for the significant reduction in Tax Relief for a grant from Innovate is that the grant is EU State Aid. An eligible project in receipt of another form of EU State Aid or de minimis aid (Growth Accelerator, Manufacturing Advisory Service) will prevent a claim for that project under the more generous SME Scheme for R&D Tax Relief, which is also an EU State Aid. The project will be eligible for the large company scheme or RDEC as it is now known.

4 – An established business raises £25k through a Kickstarter campaign, it spends £20k of the money on Materials and Wages and Salaries to develop a series of prototypes of its new tech which it gives away to some of it funders as part of the reward for Beta-testing, it spends another £5k on marketing activity. The £20k spend is eligible, the company has no other income or expense. The Kickstarter funding is treated as income and therefore the company has “broken even”. The company can claim £3,770 as R&D Tax Credits by surrendering its loss for tax of £26,000 as a result of the claim for R&D Tax Relief.

 5 – A tech start-up lists on Seedr for a series A round of funding, they raise £25k and spend £20k on salaries to develop their product. The company has income from initial sales and has a taxable profit of £30k, the company would have to pay tax of £6k, but it claims for R&D Tax Relief on the R&D Spend and reduces its taxable profit to £4k and a tax liability of just £800, a tax saving of £5,200 (equivalent to a large 26% of the initial spend). 

This is just a sample of the potential scenarios for a one off project, if you have a number of projects all of these reliefs can be used together depending on the nature of the project, the funding and the companies taxable position at the end of the year.

So if you’ve been funded don’t delay, pick up the phone and speak to one of our specialists about R&D Tax Relief today. The clock is already ticking!

We offer a free no obligation consultation to determine whether any projects might be eligible, to explain our services in more detail and discover how our expertise can best serve your business. Please call us on 01424 225345 and ask to speak to Simon or e-mail simon@coodentaxconsulting.co.uk

The post Make your funding go further with R&D Tax Credits, over 33% further! appeared first on Cooden Tax Consulting.

Why Randy? Well firstly the name is unisex, secondly Randy (ran-dee) is a play on words for Research and Development or R&D (Ar-and-dee).

In this series of images our androgynous Randy is either an owner of, an employee of, or an advisor to a business that could benefit from the UK Government’s extremely lucrative but significantly under-claimed Research and Development Tax Credits. What I have tried to demonstrate is the extent to which claims can be made by highlighting significant areas where R&D Tax Relief is often overlooked, normally as a result of a lack of knowledge of its application. We also look at ways business advisors can add value to their client relationships by bringing in an expert advisor to help a company maximise its claim.

1 – As a business owner Randy recognises that the work being performed in Randy’s company could benefit from Research & Development Tax Relief, Randy turns to Cooden Tax Consulting for advice and support and is delighted that the average claim for Research and Development Tax Relief is £50,000.

2 – Randy works for a business that builds things, this could be in Construction or Manufacturing industries, sometimes it is the Technical Director that is the driver to claim and Randy has a chat with the Business Owner telling him all about how the company could benefit from a claim for R&D Tax Relief.

3 – Randy owns a business that develops software for a large international business, even though Randy’s company has been paid to perform the R&D, because the rules prevent both a large and an international business from claiming for subcontracted R&D, Randy’s company can claim the Tax Relief using the Research and Development Expenditure Credit (RDEC). There are also examples of where a company may be able to claim under the SME scheme, it all depends on what the contract says.

4- Randy’s company does “science stuff”, it is all they do, many companies involved in science related activity fall into the common trap of “it’s what we do for our day jobs, it’s not really Research and Development” this is probably one of the most common reasons given for not claiming, but it doesn’t prevent you from claiming indeed if it is what you do, your business could have been throwing away £000’s.It’s not the end of the world though, if you want to #BeLikeRandy you can still claim for your previous two financial years.

5 – Randy has quit a high-flying job as a techpreneur on the Silicon Roundabout and is now focusing on another passion, BEER. As a craft brewer Randy is always experimenting with new flavours and how they might work in a beer, Randy used to claim R&D Tax Relief for the Tech business but now wants to know if a brewing business can make a claim, so Randy talks to Cooden Tax Consulting to find out whether its possible, they provide some very insightful ideas and a few months later the new brew makes everyone happy, not least because it tastes great after all of the experimentation, but also because Randy claimed R&D Tax Relief and can reduce the price of the first barrel!

6 – Randy is an accountant, Randy has a varied client base including a number of limited companies, Randy knows that a limited company can claim for R&D Tax Relief when it is trying to make a global advance in Science or Technology through the resolution of scientific or technological uncertainty, what Randy doesn’t know in practical terms is how this manifests itself within a client’s business, Randy recognises that the core strengths of being an accountant lie in the day to day compliance services that Randy’s clients rely on but significant value can still be added by bringing in an external expert to help clients to maximise their claims. Both Randy and Randy’s clients are very happy with the outcome when they receive a referral fee and a tax refund respectively.

7 – Randy finishes the various incarnations as a Business Coach advising clients on such things as Sales and Marketing, Business Strategy, Leadership and Management, but as a great business coach Randy understands that no-one has the capacity to know everything, therefore, Randy has teamed up with Cooden Tax Consulting to offer clients access to advice about Research and Development Tax Relief, sometimes Randy asks Managing Director Simon Bulteel if he would come and spend 10 minutes at a group training meeting to talk about how R&D Tax Relief could benefit businesses.

Thanks for reading, you can track Randy’s progress by either visiting our website coodentaxconsulting.artemisdevserver.com or by following us on Twitter and Facebook and of course follow the hashtag #BeLikeRandy.

The post 7 Reasons why you should #BeLikeRandy for Research & Development Tax Credits appeared first on Cooden Tax Consulting.

Arctic Shores Limited is a prime example, and the company recently won the extremely prestigious award for “Design in Innovation” at Innovate 2015, which was held at Billingsgate in London. Innovate 2015 brought together a large number of companies, universities and innovation providers to showcase the work that Innovate UK does in supporting Research and Development across England & Wales.

CTC provided R&D Tax Relief advice to Arctic Shores and wrote a technical report to support their claim. The company had received a Smart Grant from Innovate UK to deliver a “proof of concept” for their novel use of game technology to aid employers in making accurate personality assessments of job candidates, by bringing together psychologists and games designers in a bid to make psychometric testing fun.

Having received the Smart Grant the company were unsure of their ability to claim R&D Tax Relief, CTC advised that some costs could be claimed under the SME scheme and the company could elect to receive a reimbursement of cash from HMRC (R&D Tax Credits). They also advised the company to elect into RDEC (Research and Development Expenditure Credit) in order to obtain a tax refund for the costs supported by the grant which was an EU State Aid and prevented the company claiming under the SME scheme, RDEC creates a cashflow that would be very beneficial to a company in a “pre-sales” position.

On receiving the award Robert Newry, co-founder and Managing Director of the Manchester-based company said:

“We are incredibly excited to win this. It brings us one step closer to realising our vision, which is to allow people from any background to be able to shine in their applications for the jobs that are right for them.”

You can see a full video here Gaming technology that assesses personality wins design award – News stories – GOV.UK

Simon Bulteel, Managing Director of Sussex-based Cooden Tax Consulting said:

“I am delighted that Arctic Shores have won this prestigious award. Their work in getting this project off the ground and customer ready is a great example of the innovation in technology that can benefit from R&D Tax Relief. The company has a cutting-edge, market-leading solution that will allow them to grow rapidly. I met Robert at TechHub in London, where I hold a quarterly clinic for their residents on the benefits of R&D Tax Relief or R&D Tax Credits for Start-ups. Companies like Arctic Shores who have received a grant or who have subsidised Research and Development continue to miss out on the opportunity to claim this valuable relief to support their historic and ongoing R&D.”

TechHub is a unique environment where technology startups can start up faster. We nurture an international network of like-minded and focused tech entrepreneurs, providing places where they can work, meet, collaborate, network, learn and have fun. By getting the right people together in a physical space, good things happen.

Contact us to find out more about our services.

The post Cooden Tax Consulting’s client wins Innovate 2015 Design in Innovation Award appeared first on Cooden Tax Consulting.

Every now and again the Government makes available a pot of money targeted at niche industries where they feel British companies can make an impact on a global stage as a result of their scientific specialisms.

It just so happens that such a pot of money is available to a number of companies that operate in the niche Photonics Industry which has a large pocket of hi-tec companies based here in Sussex.

The bulk of the detail can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/news/innovation-in-key-technologies-apply-for-business-funding applications for funding are open from 18th January and close on 9th March.

• projects must be led by a small or micro business working either alone or with one other small or micro business
• total project costs to be no more than £33,000 and for projects to last up to 4 months
• businesses could receive up to 70% of their project costs
• a briefing event for potential applicants will take place in London on 26 January 2016, and there will be additional events in Edinburgh and Manchester

Whilst grant funding reduces the amount of R&D Tax Relief that you might be able to obtain, by reducing it from a potential 33.33% for an R&D Tax Credits claim under the SME scheme down to just 8.8% under the RDEC scheme for large companies, subcontracted or funded Research and Development it is still very worthwhile applying for the funding and claiming R&D Tax Relief as an added bonus, especially as up to 70% of the costs will be funded.

Many companies are unaware that they can claim R&D Tax Relief for grant funded Research and Development as well as be in receipt of the grant.

If your company or one of your clients has had a grant funded Research and Development Project in the last three years that has a scientific or technological aspect to it, contact us today to make sure that they maximise their claim for R&D Tax Relief.

The post Feasibility Grant Funding available for Niche Sussex Industry appeared first on Cooden Tax Consulting.

I have only recently embarked on the onboarding process for Growth Accelerator, I have met my Growth Manager, she has devised my Growth Plan and sent me some coaches CV’s to help me find the best fit.

I was listening intently to the Autumn Statement on Wednesday as I had heard rumours of the replacement of Innovation Grants, I assumed through Innovate, with Innovation Loans. The French Governement have recently made the same adjustment to their Innovation funding.

Such a change could have an impact on a number of SMEs who I have supported with R&D Tax Relief Advice who had received a grant from Innovate UK, if the grants were to be replaced with loans it might be possible that the nature of the loans would mean that such business support might not be EU State Aid and therefore might allow them to claim the more lucrative SME Scheme R&D Tax Relief, rather than the Large Company Scheme or RDEC.

Imagine my surprise then when on Friday afternoon, I received a somewhat frantic call from my Growth Manager, telling me that the Growth Accelerator service was to be scrapped and only those people already nearing the completion of the enrolment process, who had paid by midnight on Monday evening (30 November) would be allowed to begin with the subsidised coaching.

Given the Government’s desire for the UK to remain “The Innovation Nation”, such discounted coaching sessions are often invaluable to Small Businesses as they begin their journeys to expansion.

As Growth Accelerator and the Manufacturing Advisory Service had only recently been brought under the umbrella of the Business Growth Service, I assumed that they were going to continue. It has since come out that the entire Business Growth Service will be scrapped which means I think that the Business is Great campaign and Exporting is Great Campaign are also for the chop.

What now for the HMRC agenda for making R&D Tax Relief more visible to SMEs, whilst Growth Accelerator wasn’t and isn’t the vehicle to do this, it was HMRC being embedded with these staff at things like the Business Show (3&4 December at Olympia) where they would be expecting to push out this message.

I have regularly signposted my R&D Tax Relief clients to Growth Accelerator and MAS in an effort to allow them to gain access to coaching that might remove some of their barriers to growth.

Let me know if you have heard any different news on this.

Read more from our blog.

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