How Many HMRC R&D tax claims are being made in your region?
R&D Tax Credits 2 mins read 19th Jul 2019
2016/17 tax tear R&D claim figures.
We have been looking into the R&D figures published by the Office for National Statistics to see how many claims have been made in the different regions of the UK. Here are those figures for the 2016/17 tax year (the most recent available):
London = 7,770
South East = 6,300
North West = 4,330
East of England = 3,870
West Midlands = 3,340
South West = 3,100
Yorkshire and The Humber = 2,625
East Midlands = 2,430
Scotland = 1,900
Channel Islands/Isle of Man = 1,185
North East = 1,370
Wales = 1,245
Total: 39,465
The figures above represent ever-increasing uptake. For example, in the 2013/14 tax year, London had 3,355 claims (57% fewer), the South East had 3,600 (43% fewer) and the North West had 1,905 (56% fewer).
Why has the number of claims increased so significantly?
A general increase in awareness and uptake, while partially fuelled by the marketing efforts of providers like us, is underpinned by incremental improvements to the incentive itself. The most significant of which have been:
– Removal of £10,000 minimum R&D spend in April 2012
– Increase in enhanced expenditure rate from 100% to 125% in 2012/3 and then to 130% in 2015/16
– Increase in SME payable tax credit rate from 11% in 2012/13 to 14.5% in 2014/15.
How do I know if I’m doing eligible R&D?
Government guidelines for R&D can be confusing and sometimes off-putting. People see the term ‘scientific or technological advance’ and might consider their work to be ineligible. The reality is that R&D can cover many different types of work in almost every sector. You just have to know what to look out for.
Interested in talking to one of our R&D tax credits advisors to find out what your claim could be worth? Please get in touch for a free consultation.
These figures were taken from the Government’s ‘Research and Development Tax Credits Statistics’ for September 2015 and September 2018, respectively.
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