{"id":26955,"date":"2025-02-21T16:22:47","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T16:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/?p=26955"},"modified":"2025-02-21T16:22:51","modified_gmt":"2025-02-21T16:22:51","slug":"dont-miss-out-on-rd-tax-credits-again-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/dont-miss-out-on-rd-tax-credits-again-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Don&#8217;t miss out on R&amp;D tax credits again this year!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Matt-S-V1-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-9296\" src=\"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Matt-S-V1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"632\" height=\"316\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>If you overlooked Research and Development (R&amp;D) tax credits in the 2024\/25 tax year, now is the time to act to ensure you don\u2019t lose out in 2025\/26.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The rules have changed, and if you don\u2019t claim this year, you could be missing out.<\/p>\n<p>From 1 April 2024, the new merged R&amp;D expenditure credit (RDEC) scheme replaced the previous SME and large company schemes, bringing major changes to how relief is calculated.<\/p>\n<p>Whether you\u2019re a loss-making SME or a profit-making business, there\u2019s still substantial support available \u2013 but you need to ensure you\u2019re claiming under the right scheme.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>The new R&amp;D tax credit system: What\u2019s changed?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Government has simplified R&amp;D tax relief by merging the old SME and RDEC schemes into a single expenditure credit system.<\/p>\n<p>This means:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The R&amp;D expenditure credit (RDEC) rate is 20 per cent for qualifying expenditure.<\/li>\n<li>The credit is taxable, meaning it is treated as trading income and subject to Corporation Tax.<\/li>\n<li>If you are a loss-making SME, you may be eligible for the new Enhanced R&amp;D Intensive Support (ERIS) scheme.<\/li>\n<li>The PAYE cap applies, limiting the amount of tax credit you can claim based on your payroll costs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>However, you will need to meet certain criteria to apply for and successfully capitalise on the merged scheme.<\/p>\n<p>Qualifying R&amp;D costs include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Staff costs \u2013 Salaries, pensions, and NICs for employees working on R&amp;D<\/li>\n<li>Subcontractors and freelancers \u2013 A portion of outsourced R&amp;D work<\/li>\n<li>Software and consumables \u2013 Cloud computing, testing materials, and energy costs<\/li>\n<li>Prototypes and testing \u2013 If they are necessary for the R&amp;D process<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As you can see, this is fairly broad and could allow you to receive relief covering a range of your R&amp;D-related expenses.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>What is Enhanced R&amp;D Intensive Support (ERIS)?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>If your company is loss-making and R&amp;D-intensive, you may be eligible for additional support.<\/p>\n<p>Under ERIS, you can:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Deduct an additional 86 per cent of qualifying costs in your tax computation (on top of the standard 100 per cent deduction), making a total of 186 per cent relief.<\/li>\n<li>Claim a cash tax credit of up to 14.5 per cent of the surrenderable loss, which is not subject to tax.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>However, you must meet the intensity condition, meaning at least 30 per cent of your total expenditure must be on qualifying R&amp;D activities.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Do you qualify for R&amp;D tax credits?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The definition of R&amp;D remains broad, meaning your business might qualify even if you don\u2019t realise it.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019ve been working on any of the following, you should consider making a claim:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Developing new products, processes, or software<\/li>\n<li>Improving existing technologies or systems<\/li>\n<li>Overcoming technical or scientific uncertainties<\/li>\n<li>Carrying out feasibility studies or prototyping<\/li>\n<li>Automating or streamlining processes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you\u2019re unsure about whether you qualify, speak to an accountant or tax adviser at Moore Thompson for guidance.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>The new tax year starts soon \u2013 don\u2019t miss out<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The tax year ends in April, and you can claim R&amp;D relief for the last two accounting periods.<\/p>\n<p>If you haven\u2019t reviewed your eligibility or think you missed out last year, now is the time to act.<\/p>\n<p>Many businesses assume their accountants have already claimed R&amp;D tax relief for them \u2013 but this is a specialist area that requires technical knowledge and careful documentation, so few practices cover it as standard.<\/p>\n<p>However, if you\u2019re investing in innovation, overcoming technical challenges, or improving processes, you <em>should<\/em> be claiming R&amp;D tax relief.<\/p>\n<p>With the tax year-end fast approaching, don\u2019t let another year slip by without capitalising on this valuable support.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Unsure if you qualify? <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/contact-us\/\"><strong>Speak to our R&amp;D tax specialists today<\/strong><\/a><strong> and secure your claim before the deadline.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you overlooked Research and Development (R&amp;D) tax credits in the 2024\/25 tax year, now is the time to act <a href=\"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/dont-miss-out-on-rd-tax-credits-again-this-year\/\" class=\"more-link\">&#8230;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Don&#8217;t miss out on R&amp;D tax credits again this year!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26955"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26956,"href":"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26955\/revisions\/26956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moorethompson.co.uk\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}