Most of the businesses restrain from claiming due to this misconception that only those businesses qualify for R&D claim which are creating something new or have labs for developing a new product. The majority misunderstands the eligibility criteria of R&D given by HMRC for R and D tax credit claims.
According to HMRC, your project is eligible if it “may research or develop a new process, product, or service or improve an existing one.”
In the light of this definition, to be eligible for an R and D tax credit claim, your business DOES NOT need to create something new or produce new products, R&D eligibility goes beyond that. Even if your projects focus on upgrading existing technology or upgrading existing products it is still catagorised as R&D hence is eligible for an R and D tax credit claim.
You are eligible to make R and D tax credits if your company:
- Has been seeking innovation by creating something new
- Or bringing advancement in existing service or product by upgrading it
- Finding a more efficient procedure