Consultation Document on UK R&D tax reliefs

About your company

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* 1. What is the size of your company (or group if in a group)?

0-25 employees

26- 50 employees

51 to 250 employees

251 to 500 employees

More than 500 employees

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* 2. What sector does your company operate in?

Biotech

Manufacturing

Software development

Agriculture

Physical science research

Chemical research

Engineering

Food Production

Space and satellite

Other (please specify)

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* 3. Broadly, what proportion of your annual expenditure (excluding cost of sales) is on R&D activities?

0-1%

2-5%

6-10%

11-20%

21-30%

31%-50%

51%-75%

76%-90%

More than 90%

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* 4. What scheme do you currently claim under?

R&D Expenditure Credit “RDEC”

SME

Both

Not sure

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* 5. If you answered both to the previous question – what statement correctly describes your views on the RDEC relative to the SME scheme (tick all that apply)?

I didn’t realise there was a difference

It is good to have the credits recognized as income in the accounts rather than hidden in the tax charge

The RDEC calculation is simpler

The RDEC calculation is more difficult

My accountant/agent does all the calculations

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* 6. Would you object if both schemes were unified into one scheme?

I don't know

Yes (please explain why)

Why claim R&D?

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* 7. How does your business benefit (or not) from the R&D reliefs (tick all that apply)?

Helps cashflow

Reduced tax liability now

Reduced tax liability in the future

Increases investment in R&D

Incentivizes us to do more R&D in the future

It does not incentivize us to do more R&D – we would still go ahead with our plans regardless of whether we received R&D tax relief or not.

It enables us to bring forward our investment plans

It means that we may invest in other areas besides R&D

We get other positive benefits from making an R&D claim

Other (please specify)

The claims process
Currently this is part of the corporation tax self-assessment process

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* 8. Does your company send an R&D report to HMRC?

Yes

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* 9. If Yes does it contain a detailed description of the R&D projects you undertake?

Yes

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* 10. Do you think HMRC should ask for more information at the point the claim is made with the corporation tax return.

Yes

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* 11. Would you provide more information upfront if your claim were to be treated differently (eg fast track)?

Yes

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* 12. Thinking of your current company what prompted you to make your first claim? (tick just one)

Knowledge of schemes

Changed jobs so brought idea to new employer

Accountant/ tax agent suggested

Cold calling by R&D specialist

Advert or article somewhere

Colleague suggested

The company already prepared R&D claims when I joined

Other (please specify)

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* 13. Who prepares the R&D report? (tick only one box)

You, the company

Corporation tax agent prepares

The company prepares –corporation tax agent reviews

Specialist R&D boutique prepares

We do not prepare a report

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* 14. With regards to preparing the report please tick all statements that apply

We do not use an agent

Agent on a contingent fee

Agent on a fixed fee

The agent informs me and helps me understand more about the R&D claim

I leave it all to the agent who prepares everything

The agent tells me what my responsibilities are regarding a claim

The agent tells me what HMRC responsibilities are regarding a claim

I am happy with the way the agent I use works with me

I am not happy with the way the agent I use works with me

I have changed agents because of a previously bad experience

I am happy with the expert knowledge provided by my agent

I am not happy with the expert knowledge provided by my agent

Other (please specify)

Enhancement of integrity
HMRC has recent experience of fraudulent claims for R&D relief

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* 15. If HMRC were to introduce enhancements of the integrity of the claims process – how do you think this could best be achieved?

A separate audit by HMRC of each claim

Senior person in the organization signs off on the claim

Prescribed information that it is mandatory to provide to HMRC

Other (please specify)

Qualifying R&D activities – current and future?
The current definition of R&D for these purposes is advance of science or technology through resolution of scientific or technological uncertainty.

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* 16. Qualifying R&D activities – current and future?

The current definition of R&D for these purposes is advance of science or technology through resolution of scientific or technological uncertainty.

11 Do you think this is too narrow a definition

Yes/No

If yes

What else should be included (tick the boxes that apply)

Social sciences

Pure mathematics

Creative industries

Other (please state)_____________________________

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* 17. Approximately how much of the activity in respect of which you claim R&D in the UK is undertaken outside of the company (ie subcontracted to other companies or individuals)?

Percentages

None – all internal costs

0-1%

2-5%

6-10%

11-20%

21-30%

31%-50%

51%-75%

76%-90%

More than 90%

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* 18. What percentage of this subcontracted R&D is undertaken outside of the UK?

Not applicable

None - all in the UK

<2%

2-5%

6-10%

11-20%

21-30%

31%-50%

51%-75%

76%-90%

More than 90%

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* 19. Do you claim R&D tax reliefs in other countries?

Yes - please state which country(ies)

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* 20. Finally, is there anything you would like to feed back to HMRC about your experience of claiming R&D tax reliefs? If so, please write in the box below.

Invitation to a discussion group (and a chance to win a bottle of bubbly)

If there is sufficient interest from our survey respondents we will organize a discussion group with other R&D companies (and possibly HMRC representatives in attendance too). If you would be interested, please enter your details below so that we may contact you. We will also enter you into our draw for a bottle of bubbly!

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* 21. Yes, please invite me to the Zoom discussions on the Consultation Document.

Name

Job Title

Company

Email address

Thank you for participating.