Catax

To rent or not to rent? Chancellor’s changes swing commercial property benefit from Entrepreneur’s Relief to Capital Allowances

Does it make business sense for the owners of commercial property to charge rent to associated tenant companies? It’s a debate that has usually been settled by calculating the benefit of Entrepreneurs’ Relief against that of Capital Allowances. Entrepreneurs’ Relief cannot be claimed on a rented property, and many owners…

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Capital allowances: How to optimise annual investment allowance

It sounds counterintuitive but there are times when you can be better off not using a tax relief, and the Annual Investment Allowance is a case in point. Like many of these specialist tax reliefs, it boasts a number of quirks that can make it difficult to maximise the benefits,…

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For loss-making firms, two tax reliefs can be better than one

Why claim only one tax relief when you could claim two? It might sound too good to be true, but a company can often benefit from claiming two very different tax reliefs at the same time. Research and Development (R&D) tax relief and Capital Allowances are completely separate schemes but…

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Claim game: The biggest R&D tax relief pitfalls to avoid

The basic fundamentals of R&D tax relief claims are fairly easy to understand but there’s a reason most accountants pass on doing it themselves. Like many areas of tax, complexities abound and there are some traps that seem to snare well-intentioned accountants and company directors again and again. Here, we’ll…

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R&D tax relief claims: Qualifying costs, dividends and expenses

We always pay great attention to how people are paid when it comes to research and development (R&D) tax costs — as it is one area where companies can slip up with claims. Many company owners often assume that the cost of their time can be used to reduce their…

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Why there has never been a better time to apply for R&D tax relief

Tax relief experts talk a lot about our frustration that so many UK businesses fail to claim the tax credits they are entitled to. I have previously explained on Accountancy Today, on how our own research highlighted that more than half of potentially eligible firms are not claiming R&D tax…

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How to ensure businesses are getting value from their property

If you have client businesses that own their own land or property, it is worth thinking about whether they are squeezing all the value they can out of these assets. Buying, restoring and maintaining land and buildings usually requires major investment, so it makes sense to extract as much value…

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If nothing else, capitalise on these three innovation must-haves

Business innovation usually requires significant investment so you’d think companies would do everything possible to capitalise on the potential returns. Confusingly, this is often not the case. While innovation usually brings value to a business longer term in the form of new improved products, services or processes, there are key…

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Why is the take-up of Patent Box tax relief still so low?

Patent Box tax relief was phased in from 2013 with the full scheme in place by 2017, offering a reduced rate of corporate tax on all profits made from patents. In fact, it offers a near halving of the rate of corporation tax paid on intellectual property (IP) related profits…

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With UK R&D spending rising, why aren’t tax relief claims keeping pace?

The last 18 months have not been easy for businesses as mounting fears over the fallout from Brexit have led to investment delays and economic stagnation. Despite this the latest government figures for gross domestic spending on research and development (R&D) tell a not altogether gloomy tale. Spending on R&D…

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