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Sparking a £50,000 R&D tax credit boost

Clayton & Brewill's Doug Perry explains how Heanor-based DB Brooks Electrical Engineers were able to secure £50,000 in R&D tax credits for ‘day-to-day’ innovation.

Established in 1974, DB Brooks has evolved from working mainly in the animal feeds, flour milling, and grain handling sectors to become a fast-growing and innovative electrical engineering provider on a wide range of electrical engineering projects.

Doug has been working with DB Brooks in 2014, as he explains:

“When we started working as accountants to the team at DB Brooks it was clear that there was significant process improvement and day-to-day innovation sat within their core business activities.

“Their approach is very much bespoke, with the electrical engineers finding the right solution for each individual client. It seemed a perfect opportunity to apply for R&D tax credits, so we worked through the numbers and made applications to HMRC for the two most recent financial years.

“Within less than three months, DB Brooks had received £25,000 for each of the two years in question – a great example of how 'day-to-day' process improvements can be eligible for R&D tax credits.”

Darren Brooks of DB Brooks added:

“R&D tax credits had been mentioned to us before but never progressed. With Doug's help it was a pretty straightforward process and we can now use the extra cash to help with our ongoing growth and development at DB Brooks.

“I'd encourage other businesses to investigate claiming R&D tax credits – it's been a real boost to our bottom line.”

Click here to find out more about DB Brooks

R&D tax credits explained

The government introduced R&D tax credits to reward companies that innovate; recognising that achieving a competitive advantage is an expensive business. The credits can be claimed against employee costs, staff provider costs, physical materials, software, and some utilities costs.

R&D tax credit claims are made as part of the corporation tax return – either at the time of the return or as an amended return, and HMRC allows claims to be made up to two years after the end of a corporation tax period.

If you can demonstrate that you are investing in developing new products and processes or enhancing existing ones then you are likely to be eligible for R&D tax credits.

Many business owners are missing out simply because they don't realise that they are eligible. If you are spending money on new products, processes or services, or can demonstrate that you have substantively improved an existing solution, then you could be eligible for tax relief of 225% on your expenditure on research and development.

To find out if your business might be eligible to apply for R&D Tax Credits, call Clayton & Brewill on 0115 950 3044 or click here to send us an email and we can help you through the process.

Clayton & Brewill is a firm of independent chartered accountants, with offices in Nottingham, Long Eaton and Melton Mowbray. We provide audit, tax, accountancy and payroll support to owner managed and family businesses, farmers, GPs and doctors, landlords and lettings agents, and private clients across the East Midlands.