If we had a pound for every business who told us they didn’t carry out R&D but actually did then we’d have… 

…well we won’t go into that right now. 

But, suffice to say that spotting R&D in a business isn’t as easy as it sounds. 

Let’s start with the definition of R&D – 

“Research and development (R&D) refers to the work a business conducts for the innovation, introduction and improvement of its products and procedures.” 

Not a bad start, this definition provided by Investopedia. And this may not match the definition you personally give to research and development in your business. 

But neither of these definitions matter. What actually is significant in the government definition of R&D. And that is linked to something else entirely. 

Why Do the Government Need to Define R&D? 

You may be asking yourself this question. If you are in business, then the answer could be very interesting indeed. We suggest you read on… 

The UK government decided over a decade ago that they needed some way of incentivising businesses to invest in themselves. Coming up with innovative ideas, changing processes to make them more efficient or delivering a new product would help the UK economy as a whole. 

And research shows that R&D tax credits are a useful way to stimulate the economy. And that’s the path they have chosen to follow. With Brexit on the near horizon, it is important for the UK to be as competitive as possible. These R&D tax credits will be here to stay for some time now. 

And What Might This Mean for My Small Business? 

If you can’t spot the R&D element of your business, then you can’t submit a claim for R&D tax credits. This might not mean a lot to you right now but when you consider that the average claim we make on behalf of our clients is over £35,000 then we’re sure you’ll soon see that this is something worth exploring. 

Many businesses don’t spot R&D in their operations. This can be for a number of reasons, including 

• They have a traditional view of R&D, where it is carried out by a separate department 
• They are so focused on their daily activity that they can’t see the wood from the trees 
• They are too busy to investigate this part of the business world 
• They don’t think it’s worth looking into 
• They don’t think they actually carry out research and development 

And we totally understand all of these reasons. That’s why we make it as easy as possible to submit an R&D tax claim. 

What Does an R&D Tax Adviser Do? 

If you haven’t made a claim for R&D tax credits, then you should most definitely speak to an R&D tax adviser as soon as possible. The clock is ticking on every claim because it needs to be made within 2 account reporting years. All it takes is a phone call for a quick chat and Lumo can let you know if you have a valid claim. 

‘And they have found claims in a diverse range of industries, such as – 

• Engineering 
• Manufacturing 
• Software 
• Life Sciences 
• Food and Drink 
• Technology 

And these are just some of the industries where Lumo have uncovered R&D that the business owner didn’t know existed. And we are sure there are many more out there. That’s why we are on a mission to help business owners across the UK to spot research and development in their operation and submit a successful claim. 

What Do You Need to Do? 

As the owner of an SME you might think that you should finish this article and then scour your business for potential R&D tax claims. And that might be a way of generating a stack of cash for your business in the near future. It can take as little as 4 to 6 weeks for a successful R&D tax claim to come through. 

But an even better way of doing this is to ask someone who has looked through hundreds of businesses and found millions of pounds of R&D tax claims already. That’s where Lumo come in. We are specialist R&D tax advisers - this is what we do every day, all day. 

If you have any questions at all then get in touch with us and we will set you on the right track to a successful R&D claim, all from just a simple phone call.