R&D Tax Relief. Subsea UK Technical Session. 27 April 2011

Transcription

1 R&D Tax Relief Subsea UK Technical Session 27 April 2011

2 Content Overview of R&D relief 3 SME definition 9 Conditions for claiming relief 13 Qualifying Expenditure 17 Definition of R&D for tax purposes I understand the rules but how do you make claims? Contacts 25 1

3 Overview of R&D relief

4 Relief for R&D expenditure Capital Expenditure R&D Allowances 100% in year of expenditure Undertake activities qualifying as R&D for tax purposes SME* R&D Tax Relief 175% Super Deduction (increasing to 200% April 2011) Potential for Revenue Expenditure Tax Credit 14% Payable Credit (decreasing to 12.5% April 2011) * By reference to 2003 EC SME Recommendation 2003/361/EC (amended by s1120(2) CTA09 for expenditure on or after 1 August 2008) Large Company R&D Tax Relief 130% Super Deduction 3

5 Utilisation of Relief Large companies Relief is an additional deduction from taxable trading profits of 30% of qualifying expenditure If the company has taxable trading profits, it will get a cash benefit at the appropriate rate (e.g. 30% enhancement on qualifying expenditure x 28% tax rate = 8.4% cash benefit) If the company is making tax losses, the additional losses may be surrendered as group relief (subject to the time limits for claiming) If losses cannot be set off or surrendered, they are carried forward to be used against future trading profits 4

6 Tax relief calculation (large company relief) Example Qualifying R&D expenditure identified = 1m Without relief With relief Sch DI profit (before enhanced deduction) 1,500,000 1,500,000 R&D relief 30% * - (300,000) Revised Sch DI profit 1,500,000 1,200,000 Corporation 28% 420, ,000 Tax saving 84,000 * Qualifying expenditure identified = 1,000,000 HMRC will refund overpaid tax if applicable (including interest) For loss making companies, R&D relief will increase trading losses 5

7 Utilisation of Relief SMEs Relief is an additional deduction from taxable trading profits of 75% of qualifying expenditure If the SME has taxable trading profits, it will get a cash benefit at the appropriate rate (e.g. 75% enhancement on qualifying expenditure x 28% tax rate = 21% cash benefit) If the SME is making tax losses, the additional losses may be surrendered as group relief (subject to the time limits for claiming) or carried forward to be used against future trading profits Alternatively, the SME may surrender losses attributable to R&D relief to HMRC for a payable credit at 14% of the enhanced expenditure (e.g. 1m qualifying expenditure = 1.75m enhanced expenditure = 245k tax credit) 6

8 Tax relief calculation (SME company relief) Example Qualifying R&D expenditure identified = 1m Without relief With relief Sch DI profit (before enhanced deduction) 1,500,000 1,500,000 R&D relief 75% * - (750,000) Revised Sch DI profit 1,500, ,000 Corporation 28% 420, ,000 Tax saving 210,000 * Qualifying expenditure identified = 1,000,000 HMRC will refund overpaid tax if applicable (including interest) For loss making companies, R&D loss can be surrendered for a payable tax credit at 14% of enhanced R&D expenditure ( 14% = 245,000) 7

9 SME definition

10 SME definition Fewer than 500 employees, AND EITHER Turnover of EUR 100 million or less OR Balance sheet assets of EUR 86 million or less Need to consider all upstream and downstream entities where holding is 25% or greater. Linked enterprises = controlling interest Partner enterprises = 25% or more of capital or voting rights 9

11 Linked enterprises Enterprises are linked where a control relationship exists majority of the shareholders' or members' voting rights right to appoint or remove a majority of the members of the administrative, management or supervisory body right to exercise a dominant influence over another enterprise For linked enterprises, ALL data must be aggregated 10

12 Partner enterprises Enterprises are partnered where there is a holding of 25% or more of capital or voting rights For partner enterprises, data is aggregated in proportion to holding There are certain enterprises which are exempt from being considered partnered: public investment corporations, venture capital companies, individuals or groups of individuals with a regular venture capital investment activity universities or non-profit research centres institutional investors, including regional development funds autonomous local authorities with an annual budget of less than EUR 10 million and fewer than 5,000 inhabitants For these partner enterprises, no data need be aggregated 11

13 Conditions for claiming relief

14 Criteria for eligibility Qualifying company Company within charge to UK corporation tax If an SME, the company must be a going concern Qualifying expenditure Must claim with tax return for period (2 year time limit) Expenditure deductible in period Qualifying R&D expenditure deductible in period 10,000 p.a. Revenue expenditure for tax purposes Relates to a trade carried on/to be carried on by the company (special rules if for group companies) Restrictions on contracting R&D activities 13

15 SME vs Large Company Summary of main differences for SMEs and large companies SME Regime Large Company Regime Cannot claim for R&D contracted in * Subsidised expenditure cannot be claimed * Where State Aid has been received in respect of a project, no relief available Tax relief benefit per project is capped at 7.5m * Can claim for R&D subcontracted to other entities Can claim for R&D contracted in, provided it is by other large companies, non trading entities or overseas entities Can claim for subcontracted R&D only when to individuals or qualifying bodies Can claim for contributions to independent research by qualifying bodies * May make default large company regime claims for where one of these conditions is not met 14

16 Contractor vs. Subcontractor Contractor Relief? Subcontractor Relief? SME SME Large company / non UK / non trading Large company / non UK / non trading Large group company A Large company Yes (SME scheme) Yes (SME scheme) SME Large company No No No SME Yes No Large company Yes No Yes (large scheme) Large group company B Qualifying body, individual or firm of individuals (large scheme) (large scheme) Yes (large scheme) No 15

17 Qualifying Expenditure

18 Qualifying expenditure categories Staffing costs Consumables: Materials consumed or transformed Software licenses Utility costs (water, fuel, electricity) Externally provided workers Subcontracted R&D (restrictions for large companies) Clinical trial volunteers Qualifying expenditure on contributions to independent R&D (large companies only) 17

19 Definition of R&D

20 Everybody s first thought 19

21 R&D for tax purposes The key thing to think about when we are discussing R&D tax relief is: The guidelines and the definition talks about R&D-for-tax-purposes. 20

22 Definition within the guidelines Para 3: R&D for tax purposes takes place when a project seeks to achieve an advance in science or technology. Para 4: The activities which directly contribute to achieving this advance in science or technology through the resolution of scientific or technological uncertainty... knowledge of whether something is scientifically possible or technologically feasible, or how to achieve it in practice, is not readily available or deducible by a competent professional 21

23 I understand the rules but how do you make claims?

24 I understand the rules but how do you make claims? Knowing what can be claimed is half the battle. There is no requirement to do anything else than put a number in your tax return. When we assist companies to make claims, we do the following:- Explain the definition of R&D for tax purposes to the senior technical staff. Review the work done by the company in the accounting periods that claims will be prepared for. Understand which activities / projects qualify for the relief. Choose some of those projects to explain more fully. The explanation should include why the project was technologically advanced, what technological uncertainties had to be overcome, the boundaries between the development work and the commercial work, and finally what work was actually done. Collate the time of the people involved and therefore the costs, combine both the technical and costing papers, then lodge this with HMRC. 23

25 I understand the rules but how do you make claims? HMRC The HMRC have one year and the quarter day to open an inquiry in to the claim. We often have to turn NO in to YES. This is done by ensuring that when the claim was made, the company and KPMG are absolutely behind the fact that the development work met the definition of R&D for tax purposes. We would then prepare the company to meet with HMRC, along with us. Eventually, we will reach agreement. We have never lost! One of the key members of our team used to be the HMRC subject matter expert for R&D tax relief. He drafted the guidelines we use today. 24

26 Thank you Jim Purdie Director, R&D Tax Relief Angela Craig Manager, R&D Tax Relief

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