The UK's Intellectual Property Office has just published a note on the relaxation of R & D tax rules in the current issue of its IP Insight e-magazine. The current rules for claiming additional tax relief on research and development (R&D) are due to be relaxed. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) carrying out R&D will be able to claim the additional relief on their activities, even if they don’t own the intellectual property that will result from their R&D. The new regime will apply to any expenditure on R&D which falls within an accounting period ending on or after 9 December 2009. This shift should help subcontractors carrying out research for larger companies. At present, to be eligible for the additional tax relief on R&D, SMEs must own any intellectual property created by their R&D activities.
The SME Scheme is open to organisations with fewer than 500 employees, an annual turnover of less than 100 million euros and a balance sheet not exceeding 86 million euros, so long as they have an annual spend on R&D of at least a token £10,000. There may be more to come, since public consultations on IP taxation are promised for later this year.
You can find further detail on R&D relief for Corporation Tax on the HM Revenue & Custom website here.
The SME Scheme is open to organisations with fewer than 500 employees, an annual turnover of less than 100 million euros and a balance sheet not exceeding 86 million euros, so long as they have an annual spend on R&D of at least a token £10,000. There may be more to come, since public consultations on IP taxation are promised for later this year.
You can find further detail on R&D relief for Corporation Tax on the HM Revenue & Custom website here.
