Within the latest HMRC statistics on R&D tax credits, we can see that 25% of all claims made under the SME scheme, were for companies operating in the “Information and Communications Technologies” (ICT) sector. This accounts for 26.7% of the total value of claims.
The average claims value is £57,197.
Research and Development Tax Credits within the Telecommunications industry
Long gone are the days where we needed to dial an operator to ask to be connected to another person, when making a phone call. Thankfully so. Over the decades since first launched, the telecommunications industry has evolved at such pace, that it is barely recognisable to just a decade ago. However, to remain competitive within this industry, companies are constantly needing to push the boundaries.
Eligibility for R&D tax credits centres around two key areas. Companies 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.
Companies involved within the modern Telecommunications sector are constantly improving the systems that are used. This is to provide and maintain the services that consumers expect, but also to keep pace with the increased demands that are placed on the systems. As a result, there are a constant stream of opportunities to be had, along with challenges to contend with.
Examples of technological uncertainty within the Telecommunications sector
Integration of new technology
Due to the high-tech nature of the Telecoms industry, companies face many uncertainties when simply keeping pace with the latest technologies. This is further complicated by the increasing use of IP based services, because there is a need to widen the range of knowledge and skills to cover these new areas.
Development of third-party applications
As a result of the range of “third party” middleware increasing, the uncertainties being faced by companies aren’t eased. This is because each new application will need to be incorporated into the proposed system. This leads to there being questions on how to achieve this, because there’s no way to know how the applications will react with each other. When introducing third-party applications there is often a need for these to be developed for use, this is to make sure that they work as required.
Development of proprietary software or components
When there are no “off the shelf” solutions, companies will need to design their own. This will often involve a great deal of testing and experimentation before testing. During testing, there will often be further redesign needed to achieve the desired outcome.
Testimonials from our Telecommunications clients
Sound like familiar challenges?
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.