Member Article

Rise in Yorkshire & Humber business claims for R&D tax relief

Yorkshire and The Humber has seen another rise in R&D (research and development) tax credit claims, according to statistics released today by HMRC.

The latest 2017-18 figures show Yorkshire and Humber companies made a total of 3,350 claims, up from 2,625 made that this time last year. There were 3,135 successful claims made by SMEs in the region and a further 210 secured by larger companies, amounting to £175m in R&D tax relief secured by businesses across the region.

Overall, Yorkshire and Humber-based companies secured seven per cent of the 48,635 R&D tax credit claims made across the UK in the 2017-18 period. A total of £4.3bn of tax relief support was claimed in the period corresponding to £31.3bn of R&D expenditure by British businesses. The HMRC figures are based on partial data for the year with the total number set to increase further as more returns are received.

Yorkshire and Humber companies also secured £29m in rebates for Patent Box claims, another tax relief incentive available to help firms develop intellectual property (IP) assets. Overall, companies across the UK secured a total of £993m in Patent Box tax breaks in 2017-18.

This year’s R&D tax credit statistics show manufacturing companies along with those in ‘Professional, Scientific and Technical’, and ‘Information and Communication’ sectors continuing to have the greatest volume of claims. The three categories account for a combined total of 68% of claims and 73% of the total amount claimed in 2017-18.

Commenting on the new figures, Scott Henderson, CEO of ABGI UK, said: “Businesses in Yorkshire and The Humber region continue to perform well in generating successful R&D tax relief claims with a significant rise compared to last year’s figures.

“The R&D tax credit scheme has a proven track record in delivering success, driving forward innovation and helping develop more world-class companies across the UK. Going forward we will continue to work with businesses across the region to insure they are securing maximum benefit when they invest in research and development.”

Since the launch of R&D tax credit schemes in 2000, over 300,000 claims have been made and £26.9bn in tax relief claimed.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Bill Shaw .