More than 8 in 10 companies in Greater Manchester could be eligible for Research and Development (R&D) tax relief on new products and services but less than half of them have ever claimed, Manchester-based tax relief specialists Catax revealed.
Businesses are missing out on millions of pounds even though 84% of them have developed new products or business process in the last two years, spending an average of £209,758 on these innovations, research shows.
This means these companies are in line for valuable R&D tax relief that the government provides to encourage innovation.
But despite three quarters (76%) of firms being aware of R&D tax relief, only 48% report ever claiming it, the Catax study shows. This suggests just 57% of eligible firms are claiming the R&D tax credit they deserve.
This is either because they don’t think they qualify, or they incorrectly believe that it is expensive and time consuming and ‘would not know where to start’.
A quarter of businesses do not realise they can claim R&D tax relief if they develop a new product or service, according to the Censuswide survey.
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