Are businesses in the East Midlands giving R&D Tax Credits the consideration they deserve?

HMRC have recently published the R&D Tax Credits Statistics that cover the period up to 2017/18.
How is the East Midlands and the businesses in Nottingham, Leicester and Derby comparing to other regions?

The report shows that the East Midlands made 3,380 out of the total 47,720 claims. This is lower than our West Midlands neighbours who made 4,140 claims. Top claiming regions were London and the South East.

So are businesses in the East Midlands missing out on claiming this highly beneficial tax incentive that aims to encourage innovation and growth in the UK?
The data is suggesting that this may well be the case, especially when you consider the rise in tech and engineering businesses in the East Midlands, sectors that according to the stats are most likely to be claiming.
In my experience too many businesses think that they are not eligible or that it is not worthwhile them claiming.

Business owners in the East Midlands who are not claiming often say to me:

"We're not eligible..."

Businesses often think Research and Development is only carried out in the lab. This is completely not the case.HMRC's definition of Research and Development is deliberately broad, and is not just for pure science.
Instead businesses need to think are they resolving uncertainty / making things better through the use of technology or science?
When this train of thought is adapted, you soon realise that a wide range of activities that many businesses think are routine days to day activities, are actually resolving uncertainty and eligible for R&D Tax Credits.

"Claiming isn't worthwhile...."

For profit making businesses R&D Tax Credit claims are worth 25% in every £1 spent on R&D, and can significantly reduce your corporation tax liability.Even better for loss making businesses who can cash in tax losses for a payable tax credit, making the benefit of claiming worth up to 33% of £1 spent.

Inspire Incentives, cost effective expertise

At Inspire Incentives we help businesses identify eligible R&D and ensure that they are fully maximising their claim within the guidelines.There's no eye watering high 20% fees either, so your business keeps more of the tax benefit to invest in the future.Get in touch if you'd like to discuss how I can help.

The full 2017/18 HMRC R&D Tax Credits Statistics report can be found here