HMRC R&D Tax Credits Statistics
The R&D Tax Credit Scheme has been operating since 2000. R&D tax credits are a tax relief designed to encourage greater R&D spending, leading in turn to greater investment in innovation. They work by either reducing a company’s liability to corporation tax or by making a payment to the company.
In October 2019, HMRC issued the latest statistics on the number of companies claiming research and development (R&D) tax credits and the value of claims for the year 2017-18 so far. Key highlights are included below.
R&D Tax Credit Claims from 2000-01 and 2017-18
300,000
Claims
42,075
are SME
- Over 300,000 claims have been made
- £26.9bn in tax relief claimed.
R&D Tax Credit Claims for 2017-18 so far
48,635
42,075
are SME
of R&D tax relief support has been claimed
- Total claims = 48,635
- c. 87% (42,075 claims) are for SME’s
- £4.3bn of R&D tax relief support has been claimed
R&D Tax Credit Claims Comparative: 2016-17 vs. 2015-16
Due to the nature of the scheme, returns for the latest financial year reported (2017-18) can still be submitted past the cut-off date for the publication. As a result, data for 2017-18 is not yet complete. To avoid misleading comparisons between years, HMRC have compared the years 2016-17 to 2015-16 in the publication when discussing change between years, and 2017-18 when discussing in-year characteristics.
52,533
claims made
20%
Increase from previous year
45,045
22%
Increase from previous year
in amount claimed
14%
Increase from previous year
- London, South East and East of England represent 46% of all claims and 61% of the total amount claimed for 2017-18
- Manufacturing, Professional, Scientific and Technical and Information and Communication sectors = 68% of claims and 73% of the total amount claimed for 2017-18.
Manufacturing, Professional, Scientific & Technical, Information and Communication
HMRC continues to show support for the R&D scheme to help drive innovation which is great news for companies who spend money in the area of R&D. Understanding R&D can be challenging and can take the focus away from your business. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss any questions you have regarding R&D. Look forward to hearing from you.
Source: HMRC R&D Tax Credits Statistics (October 2019)