The Ins and Outs of R&D Tax Credits Your Business Our Passion
Contents Fancy some free cash for your business? 04 Find out more 08 Why R&D? 04 Case study 09 What we do and how we can help you 05 What we offer 05 Our claim process and fees 07 Our claim process 07 Our fees 07
THE INS AND OUTS OF R&D TAX CREDITS 4 Fancy some free cash for your business? Did you know thousands of companies are eligible to claim money back from HMRC, through the Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit Scheme, and aren t doing so? simply don t think the scheme will apply to their business. These assumptions are often incorrect and this is where we can provide help, advice and answers to your questions. The biggest misconception is that this money is only available for people in white coats, but despite what you might think; it s not just for tech companies... In the last year alone, we ve managed to claim money back for businesses in design, recruitment and the arts. You could be leaving serious money on the table if you don t check it out for yourself! Why R&D? Many business owners are either unaware of the potential benefits of R&D tax credits or mistakenly think that the claims process is too complicated to deal with. They underestimate the potential benefits of an R&D claim or In the last year alone, we ve managed to claim money back for businesses in design, recruitment and the arts
5 THE INS AND OUTS OF R&D TAX CREDITS What we do and how we can help you Raffingers offer a specialist R&D tax service to companies who are considering making a claim under the SME or Large Company R&D schemes. We also work with accounting firms who need additional expertise in this specialist area. Our team of specialists is led by our Senior Tax Manager, Neill Staff, who has extensive experience dealing with R&D issues, including processing claims for HMRC during his time as a former senior tax inspector, and subsequently submitting many hundreds of claims since leaving the Revenue. Our team is experienced at guiding you through the claims process to maximise the levels of tax relief available. Using our knowledge and experience from making claims in numerous business sectors, we can help you grow by reducing your overall corporation tax burden through the use of R&D tax credits. What we offer We offer an expert R&D tax service equivalent to the top UK accounting firms or any of the specialist R&D advisors. We pride ourselves with our levels of customer service and will provide you with a single point of contact throughout your entire claim. We have a proven track record of successful claims and a commitment to assist our clients in maximising their claim to include all eligible R&D costs. So far we have managed to save our clients over 1million through tax and repayments. So far we have managed to save our clients over 1million through tax and repayments.
THE INS AND OUTS OF R&D TAX CREDITS 6 We recently did a successful R&D Tax Credits claim with the help of Raffingers. After discussing our situation, Neill was able to advise us of the content we needed, and really helped by ensuring the details would meet the criteria Ray Calder, Acumen Design
7 THE INS AND OUTS OF R&D TAX CREDITS Our claim process and fees Our claim process Our claim process has been designed to take away the stress and uncertainty of making a claim. We look to work with you from start to finish and will deal with the actual submission of the claim, schedules and tax document submissions to HMRC. The process normally starts with a telephone call or meeting with one of our specialists to find out if your company is eligible to make a claim. It isn t uncommon for a director to think that the company is carrying out R&D work when in fact it isn t, and we will tell you at an early stage if we do not think a claim is viable. Likewise, we have met with many business owners who believe they do not qualify when in fact they do! All of our consultations and meetings are without charge. Fees are only ever charged following a successful claim. If we think that your company is able to make a claim then we will explain what basic information we need, we will agree the fee basis, and we will confirm at the earliest possibility what the likely claim will be. We will liaise with you at all times and provide you with a copy of the claim and supporting schedules before it is sent to HMRC. Our fees Our R&D tax service is provided on a contingent no win no fee basis. Our fee is based on a percentage of the tax saved or repaid to the company, so it is in our interest as much as yours to ensure the claim is based on the maximum reliefs available and is submitted to HMRC at the earliest opportunity. We do not ask for money up front and there are no hidden extras. If we are unable to reclaim any money on your behalf then we will not ask you for a penny. All of our initial consultations and meetings are free of charge, even if we establish that the company isn t carrying out R&D activities or a claim is not viable. Following a successful claim, we will only ask you for our fee once you have actually received a repayment from HMRC, or you have achieved an actual saving by paying less corporation tax to HMRC on the due date for payment as a result of the claim. This means that you will never be out of pocket.
THE INS AND OUTS OF R&D TAX CREDITS 8 Find out more about our R&D offer To find out if you can claim some free cash from HMRC, contact our R&D Tax Specialist and Partner, Neill Staff. About Neill Neill started working for Raffingers in July 2015. As a former senior investigator with HMRC, and someone who has dealt with all levels of HMRC enquiries since leaving the department some ten years ago, Neill s knowledge is invaluable. Neil is also responsible for overseeing our R&D claims, which has involved qualifying R&D expenditure of 6.7million and resulted in Tax Credit repayments and corporation tax savings of over 1 million. e: neill.staff@raffingers.co.uk t: 020 8551 7200
9 THE INS AND OUTS OF R&D TAX CREDITS Case study: Videcom Security Limited Multiple R&D claim successes resulting in tax credit repayments in excess of 51,000 Background Videcom Security Ltd is one of the country s leading CCTV installation and maintenance companies. The company supplies and installs a wide range of audio door and electronic access control systems to control access through a single door or multiple doors, multiple sites, vehicle barriers, gates and turnstiles Research and development In addition to manufacturing CCTV hardware, the company undertakes substantial Software Development, which enables it to provide an ever increasing diversity of product. We worked with the company director and the senior technical staff to understand the nature of the technological uncertainties and to identify the R&D projects. We established that the company s developments represented advances in the capability of technology to deliver solutions to address their customers needs, where no existing alternative was available. We then set about reviewing the qualifying expenditure which, in this case, included employee staffing costs, consumable supplies and subcontracted R&D activities. We prepared a formal claim, which was submitted to HMRC and accepted without query. THE RESULT We have now submitted two R&D claims to HMRC and the company has received R&D tax credit repayments in excess of 51,000.
THE INS AND OUTS OF R&D TAX CREDITS 10 Neill worked with us on the preparation and submission of our claim. It was a pleasant surprise when a cheque arrived on the desk much sooner than expected. The advice, support and quality of preparation was excellent and enabled a rapid conclusion to our submission. Bill Mead, VideCom
Head office 19-20 Bourne Court Woodford Green Essex IG8 8HD t: 020 8551 7200 f: 020 8551 0912 e: info@raffingers.co.uk London office 3rd Floor 5-10 Bury Street London EC3A 5AT t: 020 7167 6880 www.raffingers.co.uk