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Government consultation on R&D tax reliefs – closes 2 June

The Government has an ambitious target to raise total investment in research and development to 2.4% of UK GDP by 2027. R&D tax reliefs have a key role in incentivising this investment by reducing the costs of innovation. It is therefore important to ensure that the reliefs remain up-to-date, competitive and well-targeted.

Combined, these reliefs provided £5.1bn of support to nearly 60,000 businesses in 2017-18, the latest Treasury figures available.

At Budget 2021 the government announced a review of the reliefs, supported by a consultation with stakeholders. This consultation will explore the nature of private-sector R&D investment in the UK, how that is supported or otherwise influenced by the R&D relief schemes, and where changes may be appropriate.

This wide-ranging consultation seeks views from stakeholders on the current R&D tax relief schemes.

This consultation will cover how the two R&D relief schemes support R&D in the UK, including how they operate, how they interact with the way modern R&D is done, and the main differences in design between them.

It will also consider whether the schemes should be amended to remain internationally competitive and keep the UK at the cutting edge of innovation.

More fundamentally, it will also review whether the definition of R&D and the scope of what qualifies for relief remain fit for purpose, and whether current rates of relief, and the difference in rates between RDEC and the SME scheme, remain appropriate. One issue highlighted is ‘additionality’, following a recent study which showed (surprisingly) that the less generous RDEC scheme created more reinvestment into further R&D activities and jobs than the more beneficial SME scheme.

One of the key issues to consider is whether it makes sense to have two separate R&D tax relief systems and asks stakeholders for feedback on the current position and whether a merger of the two schemes would be workable.

The consultation document stated: ‘Having two schemes also means having two, overlapping sets of rules instead of a single coherent system. The 2017 Budget promised to simplify the R&D claim process, and stakeholders have suggested “RDEC for all”, potentially with a higher rate for SMEs, could be one such simplification.’

As well as reviewing the rules of the reliefs this consultation is also seeking views on ways in which the claims process might be improved, both to give a better experience for claimant companies and to improve controls, reducing the risk of abuse and focussing the reliefs on genuine R&D.

The general consensus is that HMRC has been experiencing some issues with compliance due to the complexity of the rules and any improvements to the current claims process would improve the overall effectiveness of the schemes.

There are also concerns that some companies have been set up purely to advise on R&D claims, with criticisms that ‘some of these agents have developed a no-win, no-fee business model which presents a risk of boundary-pushing. HMRC is not always aware of who these agents are, or of their experience with R&D claims, and there have been instances of agents persuading companies to submit marginal claims or even to claim for activity which is not R&D,’ the consultation stated.

Last year the government consulted on a possible extension of the R&D reliefs system to include cloud software, for example, but this issue has still not been addressed and the consultation once again calls on stakeholders to provide insight into additional areas of activity which could fall within the rules.

The consultation closes for comment on 2 June 2021.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/965501/Condoc_-_RD_review_.pdf

FEATURING: Stuart Rogers
Stuart is a corporate tax partner who specialises in advising fast growing and complex corporate entities, heading up the innovation and technology tax services group… read more
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