Research and Development Tax Credits within the the Software industry

By its very nature, developing new types of software involves a high number of technological uncertainties. As a result, software developers must overcome these challenges on a daily basis, as a routine part of their jobs.

Being eligible for R&D tax credit centres around two key areas. You need to be either:

Producing new or improved products.

Design and development of a product involving some degree of uncertainty for which the answers were not obvious.

Modern software is based on “object orientated programming”. This essentially means that each program consists of separate objects or modules that are self-contained programs but which communicate with each other. This allows software programmers to re-use objects or modules for different applications.

Examples of scientific and technological uncertainties in the development of software

“Off the shelf” software modules

Even when using “off the shelf” components and add-ons, developers will still need to incorporate these into the main program. As a result, this task often involves technological uncertainty. This is because the developer will often be unsure whether the components will react with each other. Therefore, developers will often spend a lot of time researching and developing ways to make this integration work as planned.

New software modules

When there are no “off the shelf” solutions available, companies will often need to design their own. This will often involve a great deal of design and experimentation. During testing, there will often be further redesign needed to achieve the desired outcome. Often, the final program will only bear a passing resemblance to the original design.

Architectural issues

Even when something may seem very simple at the start, projects can still need a great deal of work. For example, if the system architecture doesn’t produce the correct data to complete the task. In these circumstances, even simple projects can require the rewriting of large amounts of an existing system. In other situations there is a need to create a temporary ‘work around’, all of which can involve technological uncertainties.

Integration

Ensuring that products operate with the latest technologies and systems is one of the biggest issues that software developers face. Integration with third party applications, as well as being able to operate securely over networks, is fraught with technological uncertainty.
Other challenges can arise from the demand from customers for more integrated systems. Despite these being separate systems, the need for them to communicate with each other is vital.

Testimonials from our Software clients

Fiscale have enabled us to recoup some of the significant amount of investment that we have made (and continue to make), in new and innovative projects for our digital publishing business. This keeps us at the front of our market.
Mark Johnston, Vetstream
Fiscale provide an excellent and seamless service. I would happily recommend.
Paul Goodwin, Director, Digiflex Ltd.
They are a great team that really got to grips with what our company was all about, very quickly.
Tim Gifford, ELTjam
Having known little about R&D Tax Credits, it was a surprisingly seamless and painless pleasure dealing with Fiscale. They answered every question swiftly and succinctly. The claim process was transparent and organised. Furthermore, the process allows you to step back and appreciate the innovative developments one does, which sometimes get taken for granted.
Chris Harrison, Digital Unity
Being very responsive and hard working is what makes Fiscale a great choice!
Nasir Shaikh, Director, UKeHub Ltd.

Sound like familiar challenges? 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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