So 2020 is almost at an end!

It has been rubbish hasn’t it, but there’s still time for a Christmas Bonus! Don’t let the opportunity pass your business by for another year.

2020 should have been a decent year; it was the start of new decade; we should have got a final idea of our future trading relationship with the EU after months of not knowing; and there was going to be an election in the US and then COVID struck. For many it has been a significant challenge, some companies have thrived, the most unfortunate companies have failed and some of us have just plodded along.

We had high hopes for 2020, continued business growth, attending a number of business shows, finding new customers, and initially everything was great, 2020 started with a bang, we had our busiest first quarter, everything went according to plan, and then at the end of March, the lights went out and stayed out for most of April and much of May, and we had our worst second quarter for 4 years. They have slowly come back on in June and July and then in August when we all would have all been away for our summer holidays, they were burning bright, just like the sunshine for some of the month, and they have continued burning in September and October and should keep going now through the dark winter months, despite this second lockdown.

As we begin to hear the death knell of this terrible year, it is also a time of frantic fiscal activity for many businesses. With a majority of companies having a December or March year end, the end of the calendar year marks a triple whammy for many. The 31^st December is the deadline to amend a Tax Return for a financial year ended December 2018, it’s also the date by which a company has to file their initial Tax Return for the year ended December 2019 and it is also the day before a company with a March 2019 year-end has to pay their tax bill!

It makes it the busiest time of the year for an R&D Tax Credits firm, but surprisingly as we enter into this period we find ourselves a little bit ahead of the game for a change.

If you are the owner or technical director of one of those companies with a December or March year end, you could enter 2021 with the prospect of a far healthier bank balance. If you were engaged in a project in 2018, 2019 or 2020 that had an element of a scientific, engineering or technological challenge and your own staff or someone else’s were working to try and solve that challenge then you could have the potential to claim for R&D Tax Credits.

If that project was focused on developing a new, or significantly improving an existing; product; material; process; or device or delivering a new or improving a piece of technology essential for your business then you really should be talking to someone about your claim.

Given that the tax savings for a company, or a group of companies employing less than 500 staff could generate a tax saving of up to 24.7% for a profitable company or 33.35% for a company that has made losses in prior year and could surrender those losses to HMRC for cash, it really should be a task that moves to the top of your to do list. If you are a larger concern with over 500 employees, or you have a balance sheet over €86m and turnover in excess of €100m then you will only be eligible for the Research and Development Expenditure Credit. Whilst not as generous, it still pays out a fairly healthy 9.72% for 2018 and 2019 and a better 10.53% from 1 April 2020.

It sounds like you might have quite a lot to lose, would you like to find out once and for all whether your company might have the potential to claim. Our discovery calls take about 15 minutes. We’ll start off by asking a couple of pointed questions and then spend most of the time listening to your answers and maybe asking more questions to explore a particular avenue. Book a call at www.calendly.com/simon-bulteel

Finally, whatever you do, stay positive, stay safe, don’t let COVID and the restrictions get the better of you or your business, have a cracking Christmas and see you on the other side, for what should be a slightly better 2021