R&D tax credit HMRC enquiry service
Our report gives a straightforward opinion and suggests next steps.
We are a specialised tax consulting firm providing R&D tax credit and other incentive services for 40 years in the US and 20 years in the UK.
Source Advisors is deeply rooted in quality, relationships, and creating the very best working culture for our people. Source Advisors has a global team of over 250 professionals to serve our clients and our accounting partners.
We continue to provide unique expertise, tailored solutions, and exceptional client service.
We create value for our clients by recognising their R&D and maximising the value of their Intellectual Property through our deep understanding of fiscal incentives, the policy landscape, and our unrivaled technical capabilities.
At Source Advisors, we believe that innovation needs to be the driving force behind the UK’s economic growth. The global landscape now evolves at a rapid rate, and the value of intangible assets can drive business success. This is at the heart of R&D and Intellectual Property.
We have access to a full range of industry experts across the country with different experience, skillsets, and technical knowledge. Whether a business is big or small, complex or simple, single or multi-site – we will find a Technical Consultant who has the right mix of skills.
Your Source Advisors team will speak your language and will leverage their real-world experience, so they will waste no time in getting to grips with the work you do.
R&D tax relief was introduced by the Government in 2000 to encourage UK innovation, and our business was created as a direct response. Realising that many of our clients weren’t benefitting fully, our founders saw the need for straightforward, specialist advice to help businesses make the most of this opportunity.
In 2017, we brought our services together under the name GovGrant to offer our clients a holistic view of the incentives and tax relief that promote innovation.
Today, as Source Advisors, we continue that legacy of helping business commercialise their innovation, responding to the evolving regulation in R&D tax relief, including RDEC, the new merged R&D scheme , and the ERIS scheme.
We will stand side by side with our accountant partners and clients to navigate the financially complex. Our mission is to empower UK businesses to realise their innovation potential through commercially focused consultancy.
Our holistic understanding of the R&D ecosystem transcends our service lines and is critical to meeting the needs of our partners and clients. We work together to maximise the impact of fiscal incentives that drive innovation and economic prosperity.
Our report gives a straightforward opinion and suggests next steps.
We prepare technically robust and compliance-led R&D claims.
Craft an IP strategy that aligns to your business goals.
This single scheme for R&D tax relief brings new rules.
A new ‘rate’ for loss-making R&D intensive SMEs.
Benefit from reduced Corporation Tax on profits related to patented technology.
A quick and simple review to establish if you have something worth patenting.
Navigating tax incentives for organisations with international business interests.
We want to work with you to get the best results for your business. With Source Advisors every step will be easy and transparent.
One of our consultants will find out about your business and its R&D activities to understand how we can add value. If we don’t think we can help at all we’ll let you know.
We will set out our plan for working with you up front, the likely focus, the timeframes and what we will charge.
We will check with your accountant to ensure that an R&D claim is feasible based on your structure, costs, and timeline.
If we need to submit a Claim Notification Form, then we’ll do that on your behalf.
Importantly, we will match you with the right Technical Consultant to understand your business and speak your language. They will be at the centre of the wider team of Financial Consultants, tax professionals and business support that will work together on your claim.
We will agree the best way to engage with your team, laying out the priorities, timelines and collective goals.
Our Technical Consultant will establish the key project areas, alongside the relevant stakeholders so that we can work together to determine your qualifying projects.
We will work with your natural business flow to avoid unnecessary interruptions to your technical team. We do the heavy lifting to research the baseline and craft the technical narrative that HMRC require.
We will dive deep into your financials to accurately assess the full range of costs for the projects we have identified
We will bring this together into a succinct report that captures your qualifying activities, related costs and the benefit you will receive.
With your approval we will submit the Additional Information Form and liaise with your Accountant to submit the Corporation Tax return to HMRC.
If HMRC have any questions or opens an enquiry, we will deal directly with HMRC on your behalf to resolve the matter quickly and effectively.
Whether it is a reduction in your tax paid or a tax credit, you can be confident that you will receive a tangible and fully optimised benefit for the investment you have made in innovation.
We have the confidence to stand by our claims with a proven claim methodology and a rigorous quality assurance process.
“What Source Advisors offers is in a different league…I can’t think of anyone else who is this committed to their accounting partners”
Accounting partner
“What Source Advisors can offer complements our core services, meaning we can do more and deliver more value for our clients.”
Matthew Portess | FCCA
“Given the complexities surrounding R&D tax relief claims, some years ago my firm made a decision to outsource this work to Source Advisors. This was an excellent decision…”
Jeremy Clarke-Morris | Tax Partner
Below are some frequently asked questions about making R&D tax relief claims. If you have any further questions please contact our team who will be happy to advise you.
In the UK, companies are able to claim tax relief for their qualifying R&D activity.
The new RDEC scheme, which merges the SME and RDEC schemes, will apply for accounting periods starting on or after 1 April 2024.
Knowing which rules, rates and deadlines will apply depends on various factors. Our R&D tax relief rate calculator will estimate your rate with answers to a few simple questions.
The R&D scheme is administered by HMRC, therefore companies claim R&D relief by entering the total qualifying expenditure on the full Company Tax Return form, CT600. Tax relief is given as either a reduction in the tax liability or, if the company is loss making, a refundable tax credit payable as cash on the amount of qualifying R&D expenditure.
No, the company can be in a loss position. These losses can then be utilised (i.e. not carried forward for tax relief in the future) and the company receive an R&D cash refund, without paying any corporation tax.
R&D tax relief may reduce your company’s tax bill if your company is liable for corporation tax or, if you make a loss, you may be able to surrender this loss and claim a tax credit. The R&D schemes enables companies with no corporation tax liability to benefit through a cash payment or a reduction of tax.
HMRC may open an R&D enquiry, firstly they will request further evidence, this could be Technical or Financial, often both.
Once the questions from HMRC have been addressed, HMRC may conclude either, that there is no qualifying R&D activity and request the claim is withdrawn, or if they agree that there is some qualifying R&D activity but this is not represented by the costs claimed, they will reduce the R&D claim to fairly reflect the qualifying R&D activities undertaken by the company.
As a Source Advisors customer if you face an HMRC enquiry we will defend it on your behalf at no extra charge.
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