News - Bright R&D

ISBC R&D enquiry success at the 11th hour

I supported a sizeable software R&D claim enquiry last year, collaborating with the client and the firm that had originally filed the claim. It was one of those cases that felt impossible because of HMRC’s poor behaviour, but the client deserved better. It was the ‘right’ thing to do not to back down. We took it all the way to a Tribunal listing ultimately, which to be honest felt a little scary at times. It seems only at this point

Angela Browning 11 February 2025

Always worth checking an HMRC enquiry is valid before responding

A company approached me for some help with an ISBC R&D enquiry last December. Before launching into preparing a response, given how difficult ISBC is to deal with, we had a look into whether the enquiry was validly made. The R&D claim had been filed on time within the tax computation. The accountant had decided to file an amended return a few months later to submit an R&D report. HMRC was out of time to enquire into the original submission,

Angela Browning 26 March 2024

New combined R&D Expenditure Credit – why should the US get the credit?

As a second child, fairness has always been important to me. This guides my work when preparing R&D claims, always seeking to ensure a company claims the right amount due to reward its innovation. You can imagine my frustration then that UK R&D credits paid to US parented companies are mainly rewarding the US government! That is precisely what is happening with the R&D Expenditure Credit (‘RDEC’) following a US foreign tax credit rule change early in 2023. The UK

Angela Browning 19 March 2024

ISBC R&D enquiry – common sense prevails at last!

Hundreds of #SMEs have suffered R&D claim enquiries conducted poorly by #HMRC’s Individual and Small Business Compliance (‘ISBC’) team. Bright R&D Limited took on the fight for one company when the value didn’t justify charging fees because it was the right thing to do. The claim related to research and development in health supplements. HMRC’s view of the matter letter of 15 December 23 confirmed that, based on the “clear explanations” provided on 10 November 2022 the project qualified. Good

Angela Browning 11 January 2024

“Ineligible, irrelievable and inalienable” – all terms within the new merged R&D regime!

Within the Autumn Statement the Government announced reforms to the R&D tax reliefs to simplify and improve the system from 1 April 2024. Legislated for this was released today (29th November 2023) in the Autumn Finance Bill. Here’s what we think you need to know. Subcontracted R&D – who’s claim? The rules are written to ensure there should be only one claimant, generally favouring the decision maker / risk taker (the ‘customer’ paying for the R&D). Subcontractors will only

Angela Browning 30 November 2023

New merged R&D regime to go ahead from next April – Autumn Statement – November 23

Within the Autumn Statement the Government announced reforms to the R&D tax reliefs to simplify and improve the system from 1 April 2024. This will be legislated for in the Autumn Finance Bill (with legislation expected next week). Our takeaways Large companies will be able to claim for UK subcontracted R&D (no longer restricted to R&D subcontracted to qualifying bodies/universities). This will be great news for some. The R&D credit benefit for SMEs will reduce from c.19% to 15%/16.2%. Bad

Angela Browning 24 November 2023

The Additional Information Form – Our ‘Do’s and Don’ts’

HMRC launched the new Additional Information Form (‘AIF’) for ALL R&D claims filed on or after 8th August 2023. As a result, I’ve had a lot of companies asking for guidance around the new form, in particular how much information to provide when documenting R&D projects. Whilst it’s still early days and we will learn more as more forms are filed, I’m sharing my experience and suggestions hoping these will help others too: If you already prepare a comprehensive R&D

Angela Browning 26 September 2023

R&D regime changes – overview and insights

As you may have seen, HMRC released draft legislation for the proposed merged R&D regime last week and we had a Communication Forum session with them yesterday to find out a little more behind their proposals. Focusing on the areas that will potentially be of interest, the key points to note are as follows: New merged R&D regime Essentially, the new regime will look and feel a lot like the current large company RDEC regime (with a new name). The

Angela Browning 28 July 2023

R&D enquiry penalties – 29 ‘behaviours’ questions to answer!

An SME client came to me a few months ago struggling with an R&D claim enquiry. Their intentions were 100% genuine in terms of wanting to claim what they were entitled to, undertaking fantastic research that I am proud to know is happening in the UK and openly engaging with HMRC to deal with the questions asked. Over many months they had responded to extensive questions, provided a mountain of information and could not understand why HMRC was seemingly not

Angela Browning 1 June 2023

Budget 2023 and other R&D changes

There is a lot of R&D tax relief change happening so you would be forgiven for losing track! The below captures the key 2023 budget highlights together with a reminder of other changes coming shortly. If you note only one thing, I recommend filing your R&D claim prior to 1 August 2023 if you can, to avoid the extra admin of having to complete the new digital form. Call me pessimistic, but I suspect there will be early teething problems

Angela Browning 15 March 2023

News and Technical Updates