Our Claim Process

It is an incentive scheme introduced by HMRC back in 2000 to help UK companies subject to corporation tax to develop, grow and expand. It is a potential cash refund or a credit against your corporation tax. The team at RDS work with you on a no win no fee basis to establish if you are eligible for this incentive from HMRC.

Every company large or small, could qualify and it does not matter what market sector or industry you are in. RDS can quickly determine if you qualify in any area of your business for R&D relief.

If your company (and any other linked companies) employ less than 500 people and have a turnover of less than €100m or a balance sheet total of less than €86m then it qualifies as an SME for R&D Relief and qualifying R&D costs receive an additional 130% deduction when calculating the taxable profit. Relief is then usually obtained through a reduction in corporation tax (benefit of 24.7% of qualifying R&D spend) or for loss making companies a payable tax credit (benefit receivable up to 33.3% of qualifying R&D spend). There could be more tax efficient options based on your company’s tax position which we can explain to you before submission.

Companies above the SME limits can still obtain relief through the RDEC scheme, this works differently to the SME scheme, but a claimant company can still receive a net benefit of up to 10.5% of qualifying R&D spend.

SME companies can also claim through the RDEC scheme for any projects they have already received funding for.

R&D can be claimed retrospectively in an amendment to a corporation tax return which can be done for up to two years after the accounting period ended. RDS would initially review your company’s two accounting periods to assess if R&D activity took place.

The portion of gross pay, employer’s NIC and pensions relating to employees’ time actively engaged in R&D work.

Expenditure on work carried out by third parties on your behalf relating to the R&D.

The cost of materials and some overheads that are used as part of your R&D projects.

Expenditure on Software used directly in R&D.

R&D Specialists (RDS) has created a simple to understand process which is applied to all client claims. From creating the R&D justification report to analysing & calculating the claim value, our team works hard to ensure your claim meets HMRC’s stringent requirements.

A member of our team would have an initial phone call or make an initial visit to your business to see if your company meets HMRC’s R&D claim requirements before progressing on a no win no fee basis.

Our specialist team will scope your business in detail to look for any qualifying expenditures.

One of our specialist advisers will visit your business to fully understand what you do and gather all relevant data. This will allow us to identify the full extent of your qualifying activities and costs to ensure that we maximise your claim.

RDS produces a detailed R&D report that describes your company’s R&D activity and justifies how this meets the HMRC guidelines, together with a calculation of the qualifying R&D spend. We then send this to your accountant, along with instructions on how to claim this on the CT600 they submit to HMRC.

After the CT600 has been submitted it generally takes HMRC 28 days to process the claim and for you to receive your benefit.

Should any queries arise with HMRC, our R&D specialists will respond immediately to ensure minimal delays in your claim.