Lucie Mayhew-Smith Fiscale’s HR Director commented ‘We continually look at working practices to improve, asking for employee feedback and ideas from the quarterly Employee Forum and the six-monthly Employee Survey. We strive to lead the way in flexible working practices and believe that our strategy is a USP for Fiscale when it comes to attracting, nurturing, and retaining staff.’
We are a diverse bunch, from Baby Boomers, to Millennials and Generation Z. Working Mums and Dads, to part timers, full timers and those who could have retired!
Whilst we are all different, there are some common traits that draw our team together.
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Call Fiscale Today!
Why not contact us today to discuss your business’ R&D tax relief? It only takes our team around 20 minutes to determine if you are eligible or not.
Although most of the Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit claims that we submit, sail through and are resolved quickly, HMRC have a duty to ensure that they’re applying a consistent and fair process for all so can open an enquiry into submitted R&D Tax Credit claims.
The very nature of R&D Tax Credit claims means that there will be times when HMRC require a bit more information or further explanations, especially in the first couple of claims.
Why do HMRC take a closer look at some R&D tax Credit claims and what happens when they do open an enquiry?
At Fiscale, each claim that we submit on behalf of our clients is extensively researched and written, to remove any ambiguity. As a result, we’re very fortunate to hold an extremely low enquiry rate. However, they do happen. But what does it mean when they do?
The purpose of these enquiries is:
to ensure that the company is in receipt of the correct amount of relief and that it has paid the correct amount of tax
Unlike general enquiries that HMRC can launch, Research & Development (R&D) Tax Credit enquiries tend to focus on their need for additional information or a better understanding of the R&D being claimed for. This is why every report we file ranges between 25-50 pages in length, as our aim is to make the entire process as transparent, easy and as quick as possible. You can find out more about what qualifies as R&D here.
However, it’s inevitable that some Research and Development Tax Credit claims will require a closer inspection from HMRC. We call this process and “enquiry” or a “compliance check“.
Any letter from HMRC can be intimidating for a company to receive, however, we’re here to help you. Whether you’re an existing client or have submitted your claim yourselves or with help from someone else, we will take the lead and work with you to resolve any enquiries to ensure the best possible outcome for you and your business. We will handle all the correspondence with HMRC and if they need to speak to you, we will be present to guide you.
What happens during an HMRC enquiry into a Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit claim?
The first stage is that you will receive a letter to inform you that they have some questions relating to your claim. At this stage any payments will be placed on hold, pending the outcome. Enquiries usually last around four to five months, however, can sometime take a little longer, or they can be resolved much sooner.
Once their questions have been answered, it’s possible for the enquiry to be closed. Under these circumstances, the R&D Tax Credit claim will be processed as usual. However, in some situations they may like to speak with the “competent professional” who was involved in preparing the claim.
How can Fiscale help during an HMRC enquiry into Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit claims?
The importance of understanding what HMRC are asking and why, cannot be understated. This is our speciality.
Our whole business model revolves around not only having experts who know the R&D Tax Credit system intimately but also have years of experience in dealing with HMRC enquiries.
It’s a simple idea – we hire the best people to ensure the best possible outcome for you. Our team of experts know exactly what to present and how, to ensure the best possible outcome for our clients.
Step 1.
We will start by conducting an extensive review of your claim by looking at all documentation and correspondence to date.
Step 2.
Upon completion of this review we will then be able to advise you on the next step, this often involves us responding to the questions by providing additional information or expanding upon the information relating to a technical uncertainty. This can be completed simply in writing, however, could require face-to-face or telephone discussions – don’t worry, we would do all of this for you, often acting as an “interpreter” to their (sometimes quite technical) questioning.
Step 3.
Discussions will continue until a satisfactory resolution is reached, in some cases claim numbers will need to be reassessed, in which case we will always achieve the very best result possible for you.
At Fiscale, we do everything that we can to prepare and submit claims that pre-emptively answer all questions and show complete workings for our claim value. This in turn results in less ambiguity when being processed by HMRC.
At Fiscale, we do everything that we can to prepare and submit claims that preemptively answer all questions and show complete workings for your claim value. This in turn results in less ambiguity when being processed by HMRC.
Luckily, HMRC have purposefully written the legislation to be quite forgiving, meaning that there are many activities that would create eligibility.
What type of activities are considered eligible for R&D Tax Credits?
Since starting Fiscale in February 2014 you would not believe the number of conversations we have had with prospective clients who completely dismissed their eligibility for R & D Tax Credit within the first 30 seconds of talking to them! Of course once we had “scratched below the surface” of what they actually do in 80% of cases it became clear that they were indeed eligible.
Does my business qualify for R&D Tax Credit?
There are really just two questions to answer:
Are we producing new or improved products, processes, services or software?
Did the design and development of those products involve some uncertainty for which the answers were not obvious?
Here are some examples which help to put R&D into context:
R&D Tax Credits for manufacturing companies.
The manufacturing sector accounted for over 23% of all R&D Tax Credit claims in the 2016-17 tax year. When you consider the scope for creating new and improved products within manufacturing, it is understandable why this sector accounts for the most claims.
With the ongoing trend towards creating bespoke solutions to meet individual needs, along with the constant refining and updating of products, there are huge opportunities for manufacturing companies. As a result, they’re able to capitalise on the benefits of the R&D Tax Credit scheme.
We have worked with a number of manufacturing clients including Icarus Training Systems, the world’s leading supplier of inflatable evacuation slides for training airline cabin crews.
Icarus satisfied the criteria for eligibility as their products are bespoke to the particular client’s specifications. The design and development also involves a degree of technological uncertainty. The variables for each client are unique to that client and the solution that is developed, takes into account the client’s specific training needs, the type of aircraft being used, their training programme and simulator installation.
If you are in manufacturing why not give us a call on 01440 708333 to find out if you are eligible?
R&D Tax Credits for companies within the Information and Communications sector.
Over 25% of claims for R&D Tax Credit, in 2016-17, came from the Information and Communications sector. The creation of bespoke software systems generally satisfies the criteria for R&D Tax Credit claims.
John Mayhew, the founder of Fiscale experienced first-hand, the tremendous value of R&D Tax Credits. Over a four year period John’s business, HET Software, received a total of around £300,000 of R&D Tax Credit funding.
The development of new software is fraught with uncertainty, especially when the developers are pushing the technological boundaries in their quest for user friendliness and integration with other third party software.
HET Software was a market leader in developing software solutions for the domiciliary care market. A highly demanding market sector HET’s clients were looking for a solution that was easy to use (for carers and admin staff alike), highly customisable and secure and delivering a return on investment in as short a timeframe as possible.
The development of new software is fraught with uncertainty, especially when the developers are pushing the technological boundaries in their quest for user friendliness and integration with other third party software.
If your business is software development we are confident that you will qualify for R&D Tax Credits. Call 01440 708333 to find out more.
Call Fiscale Today!
Why not contact us today to discuss your business’ R&D tax relief? It only takes our team around 20 minutes to determine if you are eligible or not.
Here are some of our most frequently asked questions, however, if you can think of anything not listed, let us know as we would be happy to answer anything that you can think of.
[faqs terms=”patent-box”]
Call Fiscale Today!
Why not contact us today to discuss your business’ R&D tax relief? It only takes our team around 20 minutes to determine if you are eligible or not.
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