UK government proposals to introduce a single R&D tax relief scheme have come under fire. In a survey of 42,000 businesses, accountancy firm Azets found only 13% of respondents considered the proposals for a single scheme to be positive, with 51% taking a negative view and the remainder undecided.
Tim Croft, Azets’ national head of R&D tax, said: ‘Most respondents agreed that a single scheme was desirable but, as proposed, would be to the detriment of the SME community. Simplification of process and clarification of qualifying expenditure were the main attractions of a single scheme.
‘To be effective in its primary purpose of encouraging innovation, any single scheme needs absolute clarity on permissible qualifying activity, clear compliance guidance on claimant criteria, sufficiently attractive financial reward to both encourage claims and avoid overseas migration and be simplistic to administer. There is some doubt as to whether what is currently proposed will achieve this.’
UK government proposals to introduce a single R&D tax relief scheme have come under fire. In a survey of 42,000 businesses, accountancy firm Azets found only 13% of respondents considered the proposals for a single scheme to be positive, with 51% taking a negative view and the remainder undecided.
Tim Croft, Azets’ national head of R&D tax, said: ‘Most respondents agreed that a single scheme was desirable but, as proposed, would be to the detriment of the SME community. Simplification of process and clarification of qualifying expenditure were the main attractions of a single scheme.
‘To be effective in its primary purpose of encouraging innovation, any single scheme needs absolute clarity on permissible qualifying activity, clear compliance guidance on claimant criteria, sufficiently attractive financial reward to both encourage claims and avoid overseas migration and be simplistic to administer. There is some doubt as to whether what is currently proposed will achieve this.’
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