Brian Jukes – Corporate tax partner
Karen Keeling – Tax Director
Brian King – Private Client tax partner
Corporation tax represents a substantial part of your trading costs. Moreover, the increased reporting obligations, robust investigation policies on the part of the tax authorities, and harsher penalties for non-compliance mean that an undue amount of your time and resources can be taken up collecting revenue for the Government.
Efficient corporate tax planning can result in potentially significant improvements in your bottom line. We offer a range of services to help you minimise your corporate tax exposure and relieve you of the administrative burden of complying with tax legislation. These include:
Many accountants will look to sell you a high level tax scheme which can be highly provocative in the eyes of HMRC and can bring you years of uncertainty in exchange for the tax you might save.
Dafferns take a different aproach with a range of smart, well thought out business and personal tax and remuneration planning ideas, which are not provocative, but can help you minimise your tax liabilities.
For tax purposes, R&D takes place when a project seeks to achieve an advance in overall knowledge or capability in a field of science or technology.
– Your business must be a limited company in the UK that is subject to Corporation Tax
– have carried out qualifying research and development activities.
– and have spent money on these projects.
The R&D tax credits available to SMEs have been substantially increased over recent years to 230% from 1 April 2015, with the cash back available to loss making SMEs now 33.35% of the qualifying expenditure.
When you deduct your enhanced expenditure from your taxable profits, or add it to your loss, it will result in a Corporation Tax reduction if you are profit-making, a cash credit if you are loss-making, or a combination of the two.
SMEs undertaking qualifying R&D for large companies may claim under the RDEC Scheme (R&D expenditure credit) where they may be able to claim a payable tax credit of 11%.
Work that advances overall knowledge or capability in a field of science or technology, and projects and activities that help resolve scientific or technological uncertainties, may qualify for R&D relief.
You will likely be eligible for relief. Even if your R&D project was unsuccessful, you may still be eligible: the key is that the project seeks to achieve a technological or scientific advance.
Direct and externally provided staff, subcontracted R&D, consumables, software, trials, prototyping and independent research costs may all qualify for R&D relief.
Capital expenditure does not qualify under this scheme, nor does expenditure on the production and distribution of goods and services.
SMEs that subcontract qualifying R&D activities can claim tax relief on 65% of the payment to the subcontractor.
Grants or subsidies that your company receives for your R&D project may make a difference to your R&D claim.
You can claim R&D relief by entering the total qualifying expenditure on the full Company Tax Return form, CT600.
If your company has been undertaking qualifying R&D and has not yet claimed R&D relief, you may make a backdated claim within the anniversary of your filing date — generally two years after the end of the accounting period.
With the tax regime becoming more complex and more emphasis being put on taxpayers’ individual responsibilities, everyone who is subject to taxation needs professional advice and support if they are to optimise their tax position and ensure they meet all the compliance requirements.
We are the tax specialists and can provide you with year round tax advice on:
Every pound of income tax you save means more income at your disposal, every well planned disposal of assets maximises your net of tax proceeds and every IHT planning minimises the tax burden for the next generation.
Make sure you take full advantage of the tax saving opportunities open to you – call us today for a personal tax planning review.
Inheritance Tax planning helps to protect your assets and minimise the Inheritance Tax burden for the next generation.
It is important to plan early for Inheritance Tax as there are many ways you can minimise the potential impact. IHT planning is important for all clients, both individuals and those running their own business
It is important to have a Will as this means that assets pass to your family and friends as intended. Having Dafferns help you to prepare or review your Will ensures that it is written in a tax efficient way with the aim to minimise the tax burden for the next generation.
Do you have a will, do you know where it is and when was it last reviewed?
Trusts are an important tool in IHT planning. Unlike outright gifts which pass unconditionally to the recipient, gifts into Trust allow you to remain in control of the asset. With a Discretionary Trust you can decide who benefits from the income and capital, whilst reducing the value of your estate and mitigating your potential IHT liability.
