Companies that have not yet considered how their products or services may fall within the definition of Research & Development (R&D) for tax purposes are likely to be missing out on significant tax savings through R&D tax relief.

R&D tax relief rewards companies that are seeking advancement in the state of knowledge in their sector. In the definition for tax purposes¹, R&D does not necessarily mean the development of a new product. R&D can involve development of new or improved products, processes, services, devices or materials. Importantly, R&D is not limited to a particular industry. For example, R&D claims can be made in industries such as retail (e.g. improved processes), IT and telecommunications (e.g. software development), food and beverage (e.g. innovative recipes), engineering (e.g. new materials), manufacturing (e.g. automation) as well as the more well-known R&D industries such as pharmaceutical, biotechnology and energy. (more…)