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East of England capitalises on R&D tax relief claims as economy continues to prosper

East of England capitalises on R&D tax relief claims as economy continues to prosper

The economic and commercial upswing in the East of England has been reinforced by figures which show it is in the top three for claims for research and development (R&D) tax relief, according to Jumpstart, one of the UK's leading tax credit specialists. 

The East of the country, which has a wealth of technology, food-tech, energy and defence companies, is in the vanguard of a surge in awareness of the significant benefits which can be achieved from R&D tax relief.

Of all the UK's regions, only London and the South-East of England had a higher number of claims and greater claim value than the East.

As the region, which is the subject of a six-point, long-term economic plan by the Government, continues to thrive, companies with registered offices there made 10% of all UK claims and won a healthy 12% of the total sums claimed.

Jumpstart, the Edinburgh-based R&D tax credit expert, said new HMRC figures showed that the amount claimed under the UK government schemes rose by £380 million in 2013-14 to £1.75 billion, an increase of 27% on the previous year.

The total number of claims made by companies with their registered office in the East of England - though this does not necessarily indicate where the R&D took place - rose to 1965, valued at £200 million. London had 3355 claims and achieved a total value of £540 million.

Of the East of England number, 1635 claims were made under the SME R&D scheme and 150 under the large company R&D scheme, with the amounts claimed totalling £85 million and £20 million respectively.

By contrast, the lowest performing mainland UK region, Wales, made only 580 claims, with a value of just £25 million. 

The company said that the clearest explanation for the surge in claims is that specialists such as Jumpstart have been successful in spreading the message that properly compliant claims can make a huge difference to the corporate bottom line.

And it is also apparent that the word is getting through to SMEs, the engine-room of the British economy, with the number of smaller companies claiming rising by nearly a quarter, at 23%, while large company claims rose by 4%.

Brian Williamson, managing director at Jumpstart, said:

"Last year we predicted an increase in the amounts claimed to £1.8 billion, and these most recent figures are very close to that projection. "

"Companies registered in the East of England are once again achieving excellent figures and there is no doubt that awareness of the Government's existing tax relief programme is increasing faster in the region than in the outlying areas." 

Mr Williamson made the point that compliant claims are being made by companies who appreciate what R&D looks like in a holistic sense. That is, they appreciate that the scheme applies not only to blue-sky research but to changes made to processes and systems which create better ways of operating.

For further information about Jumpstart, contact Brian Williamson
Managing director at Jumpstart, 6 Atholl Crescent, Edinburgh EH3 8HA.
t: +44 (0) 131 240 2900. f: +44 (0) 131 226 4506.
email: helpinghand@jumpstartuk.co.uk
website: www.jumpstartuk.co.uk.

Issued on behalf of Jumpstart by Blueprint Media, 0141 353 1515.


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