Food, Drink & Breweries R&D Tax Credits
Food, Drink & Breweries R&D Tax Credits
The Food & Beverage industry is always innovating. From new products to more sustainably sourced ingredients, new and innovative products are always appearing on our shelves. However, many companies working within this industry are missing out on the opportunity to benefit from the UK Government’s R&D Tax Credit scheme.
It is currently estimated that more than 90% of potentially eligible projects within the industry are not being made. Examples of the types of projects that can qualify are:
- Brand new products
- New flavours and/or varieties
- Changes to product formulations
- Integrating new processes and machinery
- Changes to packaging
- Changes to storage
There are many other areas which could qualify your business, and with so many businesses not making potentially eligible claims, the industry is missing out on what could be a key source of income for innovative SMEs.
If you are looking to make a claim, whilst you could undertake the claim yourself, partnering with our experienced team at Cutts & Co will ensure your claim is successful. We can advice on what can qualify you, what costs you can claim against and offer guidance throughout the claim process.
Cutts & Co Make Claiming Easy
Our expert team makes claiming R&D credits easy for our clients in the food and beverage sector. We work to provide clear, simple and effective advice throughout the process.
If you want to maximise your claim, or are looking to better understand the scheme, you can be sure of the best advice with Cutts & Co.
R&D Tax Credits Explained - What are R&D tax credits?
Put simply, R&D tax credits are an incentive paid out to businesses for qualifying R&D projects and often act as a key source of income for many businesses.
The reward for businesses can be accessed either as a tax bill reduction or for loss making companies, a cash payout. It consists of two schemes – one for smaller businesses, SME R&D Relief, and one for larger businesses, RDEC.
HMRC applies stringent rules for eligibility and what costs can be covered, although many businesses could be missing out on credits.
What costs can be covered by R&D tax credits?
The range of costs you’ll be able to claim against are also fairly broad, and include*:
- Staff costs, including salaries, NI contributions and pension contributions
- Subcontractor and freelancer costs
- Costs of software related to your project
- Costs of materials and utilities used in the R&D process
- Clinical trial payments in the pharmaceutical industry
*All qualifying costs subject to HMRC standards
How much could my claim be worth?
For SMEs applying for SME Relief:
- An extra 86% deduction of qualifying costs
- If loss making, 10% of the surrenderable loss as a tax credit
For businesses applying for RDEC:
- 20% of you R&D costs as a tax deduction
