RD Relief
R&D Tax Credits - Qualifying Indirect Activities
The software underpinning RDRelief was sold to one of the big-4 professional service firms in 2018. Consequently, the brand is no longer in operation.
- R&D Tax Advisors are invited to find out more about the Inspired.tax claim preparation software.
- Otherwise, please feel free to continue to browse this website for useful information regarding claiming R&D Tax Credits in the UK. However, beware that none of the information has been updated since 2018.
Contents
Background
The activities that do not directly contribute to the resolution of technological uncertainty on an R&D Tax Credits project, but can be included within a claim are specifically documented in paragraph 31 of the BEIS guidelines. These are detailed below.
BEIS Definition
"These are activities which form part of a project but do not directly contribute to the resolution of the scientific or technological uncertainty. They are:
- scientific and technical information services, insofar as they are conducted for the purpose of R&D support (such as the preparation of the original report of R&D findings);
- indirect supporting activities such as maintenance, security, administration and clerical activities, and finance and personnel activities, insofar as undertaken for R&D;
- ancillary activities essential to the undertaking of R&D (e.g. taking on and paying staff, leasing laboratories and maintaining research and development equipment including computers used for R&D purposes);
- training required to directly support an R&D project;
- research by students and researchers carried out at universities;
- research (including related data collection) to devise new scientific or technological testing, survey, or sampling methods, where this research is not R&D in its own right; and
- feasibility studies to inform the strategic direction of a specific R&D activity.
Analysis
If the time spent is not directly contributing to the resolution of scientific or technological uncertainty on an R&D project and it does not fit into one of the categories above, then it cannot be claimed as part of an R&D Tax Credits claim.