Historically there has been confusion over whether reimbursed expenses could be included in R&D Tax Credit claims, with the main area of uncertainty being around travel and subsistence costs.

Recently HMRC clarified their interpretation of the law and introduced a special procedure to amend past claims which had been restricted to discount certain types of expenditure under previous HMRC guidance. HMRC have set a deadline for amendments to be submitted by 30th April 2018, so if you are entitled to increase the value of your previous claims, we will need to act quickly.

Can I increase the value of my previous R&D Tax Credits claim?

The value of your previous R&D claim can be increased if:

• You’ve made a claim for R&D tax relief for a period ending between 9th October 2014 and 30th April 2016
• You’ve claimed qualifying costs for staff time

If you reimbursed travelling and subsistence costs to your employees who were actively engaged in R&D activities, but didn’t include these costs in the value of your qualifying R&D expenditure, then we may be able to assist you in increasing the value of your claim.

Please contact us now if you would like to proceed, or would like more advice on the legislation changes.

What is the benefit for amending previous R&D Tax Credit claims?

For example, if during the claim period you spent £20,000 on reimbursed travel and subsistence costs which qualified for R&D tax relief, then this would equate to an extra £5,000 of benefit to your company.

There may be other expenses that you can claim for, however the amount of qualifying R&D expenditure, level of reimbursed expenses and means of payment, will vary from company to company. Our team is best placed to advise you on your company’s situation, so please do not hesitate to contact us at the earliest available moment.

What will we need from you to increase your R&D Tax Credits claim?

As we have already completed all of the data gathering, written your technical reports and calculated the original financials for your R&D Tax Credit claim, we only need you to provide the expense records for the employees that were involved in R&D during each claim year.

We will assess whether the costs qualify and if they relate to the R&D activity that was carried out. You will still receive our full service offering, including managing the amended submission on your behalf and protection from HMRC enquiries.

Contact MPA

We have until 30th April 2018 to amend R&D claims made between 9th October 2014 and 30th April 2016, so don’t miss out; call us now on 0808 208 5221.

It is our goal to ensure that you receive your full entitlement and help you fund your businesses plans and aspirations, we recommend that you get in Touch without delay to find out more.

Lisa Waller, Head of Tax MPA