What are the payable R&D tax credit rates for SME claimants?

This SME R&D Tax Relief Scheme substantially uplifts 130% on qualifying R&D costs. This means that for every £100 you spend on eligible R&D activities, the government will allow you to deduct £230 from your taxable profits when calculating your corporation tax. This includes the original £100 which would be a normal business expense, and an additional £130 as part of the R&D relief.

What if your company is making a loss? The government has you covered there too. Instead of carrying the loss forward or backwards as normal, you can opt to ‘surrender’ the loss for a payable tax credit. This tax credit is worth up to 14.5% of the surrendered loss. So, if you’ve made a loss for the year, you can still gain financial benefit from your investment in R&D.