The R&D tax relief advisory market is responding to ever-changing legislation, a more robust approach from HMRC, and uncertainties in future policy direction. Last week we hosted a roundtable discussion with Senior Tax Leaders to discuss how these issues are manifesting for us and our clients.
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Roll the clock back to 2006 and R&D tax was a thing people barely knew about. Compare that to now where it dominates the government investment plan to turn the UK in to a Science Superpower.

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Unsurprisingly, HMRC are turning up the heat on R&D tax relief claims, and what was once deemed a quick win by business owners, accountants, and agents are now becoming a much more considered approach to tax. There has always been a requirement to evidence and justify compliant activity but from April 2023, the requirement is to produce a technical report.
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In recent press coverage, I’ve noticed that some commentators have used the term “no win, no fee” as a derogatory indicator of poor practice. That it forms part of this “rotten” R&D market that encourages fraudulent and negligent behaviour from some R&D tax providers. I think that this is just lazy, and for me, is just as blunt as the cut to the SME scheme.
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What did the Chancellor announce in the Autumn Statement today?

The R&D tax relief schemes were specifically mentioned by The Chancellor of Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt today. In response to reports of abuse and fraud in the SME scheme, he has announced a cut in the enhancement rate to 86% (from 130%) and the tax credit rate to 10% (from 14.5%). For the RDEC scheme, the rate will increase from 13% to 20%.
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You may have seen an article in The Times this weekend, titled ‘Free money from HMRC’: firms cash in on questionable tax credits. The article highlights that “The taxman has lost an estimated £469 million to fraud and error under a multibillion-pound scheme”. Last year the total amount claimed under the R&D tax relief schemes was £6.59bn.
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The latest statistics showing the value of R&D tax relief and Patent Box were published by HMRC today. What does an initial look at this year’s numbers tell us?
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The British Business Bank recently published the latest news from the Small Business Equity Tracker. We take a look at the detail to find out what it tells us about the UK’s innovative SMEs and how they are attracting equity investment.
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We have just released our latest research report, a deep dive analysis into the performance of 18 years of Innovate UK investments, with successful applications for funding totalling over £9.8 billion over this period. ‘Innovate UK: The impact report’ examines funded projects using publicly available data. The data analysed includes 49,527 successful applications relating to 26,242 projects, from 17,698 separate organisations.
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The UK Digital Strategy policy paper was published on 13 June 2022. It reconfirms the government’s intent to make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a technology business and it seeks to outline this vision and the actions required to deliver it.

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There were a number of proposed changes relating to the R&D scheme in the Autumn budget 2021. In the Autumn HMRC published their proposals and launched the consultation process to seek feedback on the proposed changes.
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The conversation that GovGrant has been having with our clients over the last 5 years has evolved. We started with “have you heard about R&D tax credits” then “have you maximised your R&D tax credit claim”. Today we can maybe assume that more of the right people are claiming, and getting value from their R&D tax relief claims. So now we’re moving to “are you sure you’ve got it right”.
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There are currently a lot of players in the exceptionally crowded space of R&D tax credits. As a consequence, there are probably a lot of conflicting messages. These range from “get hundreds of thousands of pounds in 30 minutes with zero risk” to “the wolf is at the door so proceed with serious caution”. As always the truth is somewhere between those two positions.
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What was announced in the Autumn Budget 2021 concerning R&D tax credits?

Following on from that consultation reforms that were announced in the Autumn Budget 2021, the government:

• support modern research methods by expanding qualifying expenditure to include data and cloud costs
• more effectively capture the spillover benefits of R&D funded by the reliefs through refocusing support towards innovation in the UK
• target abuse and improve compliance

Today we got more of the detail of these reforms and understood more of the next steps.
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The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, presented his Autumn Budget and Spending Review to Parliament on Wednesday 27 October 2021. There were very few surprises when it comes to R&D, innovation, and Patent Box tax relief. Many of the announcements were made against the context of the recent R&D consultation, see our response here.
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The latest statistics showing the value of R&D tax relief were published by HMRC in October 2021. And as we noted at the time the total value of R&D tax relief for 2019-2020 is now projected to be nearly £7.5bn – a big number.
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The latest statistics showing the value of R&D tax relief and Patent Box were published by HMRC yesterday. What does an initial look at this year’s numbers tell us?
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GovGrant has been announced as a finalist in two categories of the Business Culture Awards, for Best Working Environments & Practices Initiative and Best Small Organisation for Business Culture. We’ve also been successful in the Lloyds British Business Excellence Awards, as Employer of the Year and Small to Medium Business of the Year. It’s great to have our business recognised in this way, and an endorsement of all we have achieved this year.
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At the end of July, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) announced that a strong intellectual property system will be key as the UK aims to be a global leader in innovation. It is clear that the UK is facing some major challenges; net-zero, the levelling up agenda, global trade ambitions and, not least, economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
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A recent report by David Connell, Senior Research Associate, Centre for Business Research Cambridge Judge Business School, seeks to reappraise the objectives of the R&D tax credit and Patent Box schemes.
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R&D and innovation specialists GovGrant have today revealed the UK economy is failing to capitalise on its world-leading academic prowess and intellect by not translating its R&D into commercial gain and creating intellectual property (IP).
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The Chancellor had a tough task today in dealing with the short term needs and long term recovery that Covid-19 necessitated. It is encouraging to hear some real steps forward in the R&D roadmap including a commitment to green energy, levelling up, skills and visa agendas and a review of R&D tax relief.
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Today is the UN’s “International Day of Women and Girls in Science”. As a business, GovGrant is at the heart of the innovation ecosystem it’s dispiriting to think that the UK could be missing out on the skills and expertise of a significant chunk of the population. Do we still need a day to promote STEM subjects for girls? Surely there is ample opportunity and the UK is ahead of this curve?
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We know that a lot of competitors have a “calculator” on their website or examples of R&D claims. We’ve never felt that this was necessary, not because it’s difficult or mysterious – but because it asks the wrong question and therefore gives you the wrong answer.
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For the first time ever, HMRC have independently reviewed the Patent Box scheme to understand if it is an effective tool in the government R&D agenda or if it needs to scraped.
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Now that I have had some time to digest the recent update from HMRC in respect of the R&D tax credits and Patent Box statistics, there are three things that have stood out for me:
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The latest Research and Development Tax Credits and Patent Box statistics have been released today by HMRC. It’s encouraging to see a year-on-year increase in claims for R&D tax relief but once again, the growth in Patent Box is woefully behind. More businesses are using the R&D scheme, which is great. However, overall business investment in innovation has only seen a marginal increase.
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I am a change agent, always have been. I love to challenge the status quo of our business, with a drive to improve the outcomes for our clients. We should always be on our toes, asking ourselves how we do this quicker, better, and smarter.
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As businesses look to recover from this year’s crisis, investment in R&D is a vital step for a sustainable UK economic recovery. In their latest Inside Accountancy podcast, Accountancy Age’s Leanna Reeves speaks to GovGrant’s Luke Hamm to assess how tax incentives should be further targeted to encourage investment from organisations into R&D projects.
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There has been much talk about the regulation surrounding R&D tax advisors and it is a welcome conversation. I would love to work with like-minded advisors to keep evolving the conversation. To find the right framework for this industry today, and just as importantly, where it goes next.
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In the recent HMRC consultation regarding the R&D tax credit cap for SMEs, they talked about a need to identify and rely on ‘Hallmarks’ of R&D to ensure that claims that are being made are bona fide and not an attempt to play the system.
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On 1 July 2020, the government released an R&D Roadmap to set out a vision to attract global talent, cut unnecessary bureaucracy, and cement the UK as a world-leading science superpower.
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HMRC recently reported on the outcome of a first tier tax tribunal case investigation into an R&D tax claim.

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In his first ever budget the Chancellor was bold and ambitious with his plans but since the 11 March the world and economy have changed beyond compare and the subsequent financial response from the Chancellor means the budget has paled into insignificance. Here Luke Hamm, CEO at GovGrant, considers how innovation is being promoted by the government and how speed is critical to any success.

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GovGrant – a seat at the table when policy is discussed

Over the years our business has grown as a direct response to government initiatives to encourage innovation in the business community. Using our experience and expertise, we now have a seat at the table when government and businesses discuss the best way to reward innovation in the UK. We aim to influence policy by representing our clients.
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R&D tax credits provide a real financial benefit to UK companies. As part of the UK governments commitment to R&D and innovation, it is one of the most successful mechanisms to support innovation in business. And now is the time to make sure that you are receiving the maximum amount of value possible.
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“What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare.” The words of welsh poet W H Davies were ringing my ears for all the right reasons today.”
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The chancellor stands firm on the government’s commitment to R&D tax relief. The government have announced sweeping measures to turbocharge the UK economy and commitment to R&D was underlined with a massive £22bn investment.

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The golden rule in an office, never talk politics – well sorry, I feel that I need to break that rule! The election manifestos have been unsurprising from the main two parties – sort Brexit on one side or change everything the other side is the summary. But of selfish importance to me and my clients is the parties view on how government should invest in R&D to make sure the UK leads the world in innovation.

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In their latest podcast, Accountancy Age spoke to GovGrant’s CEO, Luke Hamm, about the need for the R&D tax credit programme to be kickstarted in the UK in order to drive much-needed innovation. In this entertaining podcast, we cover why the government must do more, how businesses of all sizes are missing out, the regional problem and why the big four need to take some of the blame for the issue.

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Innovation tax specialist GovGrant comments on the annual HMRC tax credits statistics and says Government needs to demonstrate that it really is pro-business. Commenting before the publication today (10 October) of the latest HMRC statistics measuring the amount of tax credits claimed by the UK’s most innovative businesses during the previous 12 months, Luke Hamm, CEO of GovGrant, said:

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Commenting on HMRC’s analysis of UK R&D tax credits in its report, published today Luke Hamm, CEO of innovation tax specialist GovGrant, which has helped businesses claim back over £200m for their R&D, said: “The good news is that the number of claims by UK SME businesses accessing the tax credits system has increased by 22% between 2015-16 and the end of 2017. 77% of all claims are from SMEs, and there’s been a welcome 15% increase in the number of first time SME applications.”

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GovGrant collaborated with four other firms aiming to help SMEs maximise their innovation opportunities at a June event in partnership with Business Funding Show. It was the first in a programme of GovGrant sponsored events. We invited the other organisations to share the platform in order to give innovative companies a fully-rounded insight into available funding sources (debt, equity, grant and, of course, the R&D tax credits and Patent Box schemes) to support a continuous cycle of innovation within their organisations, and all the business benefits that ensue.

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The government’s latest Industrial Strategy report on artificial intelligence (AI) delivers some welcome headlines, but I have a nagging feeling that progress in creating a world-class AI sector in the UK is stately, rather than speedy. The government is, after all, marking its own homework, so it’s no surprise that it accentuates the positive.

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GovGrant CEO Luke Hamm has welcomed HMRC’s (HM Revenue & Customs) decision to crack down on abuse of the R&D tax relief system. GovGrant, which is a member of the HMRC Research and Development Consultative Committee, helps businesses claim millions each year for their innovation, including patents and inventions. Luke said he hoped ministers would move quickly to protect the reputation of the tax system and force out unscrupulous agents in time for new rules on tax credit coming in April next year.

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Luke Hamm is CEO of GovGrant, a specialist adviser helping companies take advantage of generous government tax incentives for innovation. You can’t keep China out of the news. Not only is it poised to overtake the USA as the world’s biggest economy (and this may be a political factor behind the current trade war with the US), but in the UK, the government is weighing up whether to allow Huawei, the Chinese telecoms giant, to build parts of the UK’s 5G network.

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The UK’s biopharma and medtech sector is a world class sector with potential for stellar growth, according to Luke Hamm, CEO of GovGrant, which helps companies in the sector obtain commercialise their innovations, including R&D tax credits. Commenting after the publication of the government’s Office For Life Science’s (OLS) statistical survey of biotech and medtech in the UK, Luke said: “The report underlines the vital importance of this sector to the UK economy, with a quarter of a million employees, turnover of nearly £75bn and over 6,000 businesses across the four key areas.” [biopharma, biopharma service and supply, med tech core and med tech supplier businesses.]

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Honda’s decision to close its Swindon car plant by 2022 has been hijacked by the politics of Brexit. No surprise there, but the closure also blows a big hole in the government’s industrial strategy, which placed some big bets on the development and production of electric vehicles in the UK.

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Australian government proposals to restrict tax incentives for R&D and innovation have been delayed following an outcry from business and research groups. The proposals, intended to save £1.2bn capped cash refunds for research activities at $4m, introduced a new ‘intensity test’ for larger companies to favour higher, more intensive R&D investment, and significantly increased compliance and enforcement measures, according to a report in the Guardian newspaper.

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Sir James Dyson’s decision to move his corporate HQ from the UK to Singapore has unleashed a storm of Brexit-related comment. Sir James, one of the UK’s most successful inventors, is a prominent Brexit supporter, and he has been widely criticised as hypocritical on social media and in the MSM.

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• Hacker Young study identifies obtaining more AI patents as key to UK’s future growth
• System for obtaining patents stacked against SMEs

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Commenting on the latest R&D figures from Eurostat [Estimates of Research & Development expenditure – 10 January], where the UK ranked 11th among EU member states for R&D expenditure in 2017, Luke Hamm, chief executive of innovation tax credits specialist GovGrant, said:

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Preliminary GovGrant research finds a potential 50% service gap in for UK businesses. Over a third, (38%) of UK accountancy practices may not provide their clients with tax credit services for innovation and R&D, and a further 13% say there is no client demand for this service. The preliminary findings come from a survey of accounting firms by innovation tax specialist GovGrant, which helps the UK’s most innovative businesses claim tax benefits for their R&D and intellectual property.

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Luke Hamm, chief executive of innovation tax specialist GovGrant, has welcomed the government’s announcement that it is to introduce new laws to protect small businesses against unfair contracts that stop them raising money from unpaid invoices.

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Luke Hamm, CEO of GovGrant was on hand to give the 2018 Thames Valley Business Magazine award for best use of technology and innovation to Reading-based Ultima Business Solutions Ltd.

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GovGrant, the innovation and R&D tax credits specialist, has welcomed the government’s commitment to the agri-tech sector following the outcome of a government-sponsored roundtable earlier this month, where ministers announced a further £30m investment (on top of £90m already committed via the Industrial Strategy) to enable farmers to buy into technology.

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GovGrant, the innovation and R&D tax specialist, has urged the Chancellor to use the tax system to boost the UK’s army of inventors and innovators in the Budget on 29 October.

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Business powers our economy, even if Boris Johnson colourfully disagrees, and the Chancellor has a chance to underscore the government’s support for business – especially small business – in his Budget at the end of October.

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The Chancellor has announced that Budget day 2018, one of the busiest news days in the financial calendar, will be earlier than expected, on 29 October.

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Entrepreneurial businesses can capitalise on their innovations by taking advantage of government incentives. R&D tax relief adviser GovGrant’s chief executive officer Luke Hamm tells Tim Wickham why more UK companies should consider claiming the relief and protecting their intellectual property.

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Tell me about your background and how/why you became CEO at GovGrant?

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This year saw only three insurtechs in the FCA Sandbox out of 29 firms in total.

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One of the more heartening aspects of this year’s Federation of Small Business (FSB) innovation survey is that SMEs know they need to innovate, particularly in the face of competition.

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The insurance industry is missing out on claiming back research and development (R&D) tax.

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The Federation of Small Business (FSB) innovation survey stands out like a sore thumb. There are a huge number of SMEs not accessing or not even being aware of government support for their research and development (R&D).

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GovGrant, the leading innovation tax relief specialist, has welcomed what the government has described as the ‘biggest increase in public R&D (research and development) funding for over 40 years.’

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Results from this year’s Federation of Small Business (FSB) innovation survey make for interesting reading.

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The march of artificial intelligence is seemingly unstoppable. An AI-world is viewed with alarm or excitement depending, I suspect on whether the Terminator movies increase your pulse rate or send you to sleep.

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We are working more closely than ever with accountants to help businesses secure the grants which are so vital to encourage continued innovation which not only helps them to an edge over competitors but also keeps the wheels of industry turning.

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Anyone old enough to remember the BBC comedy series Harry Enfield and Chums may recall the wonderful public information film pastiche sketches which always ended with the phrase ‘Women, know your limits’.

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Hidden innovation needs to be brought out from the shadows and into the spotlight.

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The term “Industry 4.0” originates from a project in the high-tech strategy of the German government promoting the computerisation of manufacturing and adopted globally as a name for the current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies. It includes cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things, cloud computing and cognitive computing. Industry 4.0 introduces what has been called the “smart factory,” in which cyber-physical systems monitor the physical processes of the factory and make decentralised decisions.

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It is certainly in the best interest of the UK to bolster the manufacturing capabilities of UK companies, especially during turbulent times when international trading relationships are in a state of flux. Some people might be surprised to learn that the government is doing something to address the situation.

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“We apologise for any inconvenience you might be experiencing. If you wish to make a complaint, please contact us. We’ll do our best to put things right.”

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Due to the contribution it makes to carbon emissions the real estate sector is in the forefront of the shift to building “green” buildings. This has been driven by a mix of public sentiment and awareness, legislative pressure and technological advances.

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It may be best known for cider and clotted cream, but there is a revolution going on in the South West of the UK with hi-tech companies springing up at a rate of knots.

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Business innovation funding and tax relief specialist GovGrant has been shortlisted for a prestigious global award.

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If you have a company that does a lot of research and development, you will want to look into the R&D tax claims you can make. In some cases, you can get reimbursement for up to 33% of your development costs.

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Getting a tax credit for making your business better and more efficient, or for bringing a new product to light, is a great thing. It can help you recoup costs that you had for the research and development projects you undertook.

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The new official bulletin on R&D spending statistics makes for fascinating reading from a business point of view. Produced annually by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), figures in the Gross domestic expenditure on Research and Development, UK: 2016 are the latest available.

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It is an essential element of the UK Industrial Strategy to encourage businesses to invest in green energy to ensure, we continue to reduce our carbon footprint. Environmental taxes have been making the headlines in recent months. The public is more aware of caring for the environment than ever before, with charges for carrier bags and coffee cups and the rise in popularity of electric cars and green energy suppliers to the home.

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When assessing research and development projects, knowing which ones qualify for R&D tax credits can help you plan your strategy and budget. When spending money on these types of projects, it is important to understand how these credits are calculated, and what it could potentially mean for your business. Companies can currently claim up to 33% of their expenditures through R&D tax claims.

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Last night, GovGrant hosted a dinner at the House of Commons with a number of MPs, industry experts and our clients to discuss how government should support the SME community. The focus was on the question, ‘If the R&D tax credit system is driving innovation and productivity, why is uptake still low and what should be done to give SMEs better IP protection and understanding?’

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Richard Thompson has spent the largest part of his professional life offering help, support, and advice to small businesses.

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Are you the owner of a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) in the UK and think that you could be entitled to research and development tax credits? By working with GovGrant you can eliminate the costly guesswork involved in making R&D tax claims by yourself.

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The statistics are truly mind-blowing and should act as a wake-up call to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the UK. According to figures from The Centre for Economics and Business Research, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is likely to add an incredible £322 billion to the country’s economy over the next two years and create thousands of jobs in the process.

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If I was being completely honest I am really not sure how I would react if a member of my team told me they were going to take a few weeks off from work so they could appear on a reality TV show. My immediate concern would be about how the actions of the person involved might affect the reputation of our business.

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Advances in technology and the ever evolving digital landscape have triggered what can only be described as a revolution in the normally conservative world of the financial services sector.

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A long awaited report into tax credit relief was pretty much guaranteed to make waves because of its forthright views. The Institute for Public Policy Research did not hold back when it released its findings into the extra revenue that firms can access for carrying out research and development.

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Everyone knows that running your own business is one of the toughest challenges out there in the professional world. It takes a mixture of guts, determination and self-belief to make a success of a small enterprise and the UK’s army of entrepreneurs need all the help and support they can get.

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Philip Hammond made it abundantly clear in his Budget that innovation and creativity are the driving forces behind the UK’s economy.

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On 2 October 2017, GGTC, Capital Allowance Specialists and Patent Box Consultations starting trading as GovGrant – why?

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