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HMRC Patent Box statistics 2020 – our commentary

HMRC has provided information on the number of companies claiming corporation tax relief within the Patent Box scheme.

Key points to show the value of Patent Box to innovative business in the UK

Source HMRC Patent Box 2020

Patent Box claims since the scheme began

£4.9bn in tax relief since the scheme began

Updates to 2017-18 – compared to previous year

11% increase from previous year
16% increase from previous year
7% increase from previous year

Claims in the tax year 2018-19

Large companies accounted for most of the relief claimed (90%)
Over half (52%) of the companies were in the Manufacturing sector
The number of companies claiming relief varies significantly across UK regions, with the highest number in the South East (15%)

23% were classified as ‘Large’, but these companies accounted for most of the relief claimed (90%).

Over half (52%) of the companies were in the Manufacturing sector (including Pharmaceuticals).

The number of companies claiming relief varies significantly across UK regions, with the highest number in the South East (15%) and the lowest in the North East (2%). There is also significant regional variation in the value of relief claimed, companies in London claimed the largest amount of relief (51%).

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Comments from our CEO, Luke Hamm

Patent Box is equally important and there should be an intrinsic correlation between IP and R&D. £5.3bn was claimed in R&D tax credits in 2018-19 (as of June 2020), but only £992 million had been claimed under the Patent Box scheme.

Businesses are just not leveraging their intellectual property as an asset. GovGrant research shows 83% of SMEs see the importance of commercialising IP, yet only 24% think this is the main point of a patent.

We are not seeing enough new patent applications in this country. This is a huge source of untapped funding for UK SMEs and could hold the key to building back better after Covid-19.

See other years’ HMRC statistics

HMRC Patent Box statistics 2019

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