SMEs can benefit from an enhanced rate of R&D tax credits compared to larger businesses. For a company to be regarded as an SME and qualify for this scheme it must meet the following criteria:

- Must be a UK Limited Company
- Must employ fewer than 500 people
- Have either an annual turnover of no more than £100 million or a balance sheet total not exceeding £86 million.

There is a 2 year time limit to how far back you can make a claim on incurred R&D expenditure. The date that the costs were paid must have occurred within 2 years starting from your current company year end date.

For Example -  If your company tax year end date is the 30th June 2018, you can claim any qualifying R&D costs incurred going back to the 30th June 2016.

If your Research and Development projects spans multiple years we will help you to make a separate claim for each year including the respective qualifying expenditure. The total tax saving will be the same result as if the project fell into one tax year.

The amount of the SME payable R&D tax credit that a company can receive in any one year will be capped at £20,000, plus three times the company’s total PAYE and NICs liability. This measure will apply to accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2021.

Companies are able to make a claim for their R&D projects whether they were successful or not. The R&D Tax Relief does not discriminate between the two as it aims to encourage businesses to innovate. The scheme therefore helps businesses to mitigate some of the financial risk involved in research and development.