The food and drink industry is vital to the UK economy. As we have developed into a café culture nation and enjoy treating ourselves to a nice bite to eat or lovely drink every now and again, the food and drink industry has reacted to this. We now get such variety in our food and drink choices that it can take some time to make a decision on what to have!
There were over £22 billion in exports from the UK food and drink industry in 2017, which goes to show how important this is for the success of the country now and in the coming years after Brexit. The UK government has seen this trend and identified food and drink manufacturers as one of the key sectors they want to support. But the word isn’t getting out there quickly enough. Something has to be done. How about the food and drink manufacturers asking the tax man for a lump sum pf cash? Do you think that might work?
Does the tax man give out money as well as take it in?
The traditional view of the HMRC is that they are there to take money from us all – employees and businesses alike as well as investors ands savers. But there is a government incentive where food and drink manufacturers could become best friends with the tax man – well, if not best friends then a less frosty relationship.
To understand this, you need to know about R&D tax credits for the food and drink industry and how they can be accessed. There is little reason why every food and drink manufacturer can’t make a claim and be successful. The industry is perfectly built for this incentive. It is linked to making improvements or changes in a business, such as –
- Developing a new flavour or variety
- Reducing the salt or sugar content in a food
- Switching to more cost-effective packaging
- Integrating a new piece of equipment into the process
- Changing process to meet regulation or legislation
And there are many other reasons a food and drink business can access R&D tax credits to boost their business. This is a great way to put money back into your company – the most progressive ones make R&D tax credits an integral part of their business planning.
What are food and drink R&D tax credits? 
The incentive works on quite a simple basis, really. If you make improvements to the way you work or bring out something new, then the government wants to reward you for taking that commercial risk. You need two pieces of information –
- The facts and figures behind the project
- An explanation of what you did
It’s that straightforward. You will need to tell the HMRC these two things in order to claim your R&D tax credits for the food and drink industry. The incentive is designed to look after businesses that strive to improve what they do. There are enough potential pitfalls when dealing with the tax man, so it is refreshing to hear when there is an upside to tax.
R&D tax credits can be paid in as little as 4 to 6 weeks if you get the forms completed correctly and make sure you explain what you did in precise and concise terms. The explanation is the most important part, so take your time over this and get all of the details down in print.
Do I really have to be the tax man’s best friend? 
Well, actually, no. You don’t have to do the legwork at all with the HMRC. There is an amazing business out there that can do all of this on your behalf. This frees up your time to concentrate on delighting your customers. So, get in touch with Lumo, the R&D tax experts to see how they can help you bring a cash lump sum back into your business.
The food and drink industry is vitally important to the UK economy and will continue to be in the future. Brexit means that the UK must look to trade on the global stage more than ever before. Food and drink manufacturers are ideally placed to be at the forefront of this.
Food and drink manufacturers can gain a lot by listening to the tax man. It may not feel like a perfect match to begin with, but once you receive money back from the HMRC, you might feel very differently about them!