Research and Development (R&D) tax relief is one such incentive. If eligible, companies can claim up to 33% of their expenditure on their qualifying project(s).

By developing software, your business is the perfect candidate for an R&D tax relief claim. In fact, we estimate that 75% of software companies are sitting on a goldmine that they have yet to claim.

The scheme means being rewarded for work you’ve already done, may influence the work you plan to do going forward and can provide a welcome cash injection for your future growth.

In this blog, we go into more detail about the types of software development projects that could be eligible and what it could mean for your business.

Types of software projects and activities applicable for R&D tax credits

Here are some examples of some of the types of software development projects that could be eligible for an R&D Tax claim:

• Augmented/virtual reality projects
• AI and machine learning
• Cloud computing
• Data processing and storage technologies
• IoT
• Robotics
• Video game development (these projects may also be eligible for Video Game Tax Relief (VGTR)
• The development of new software or software development tools
• Plugins or ‘add-on’ tools to enhance existing applications
• Extensions to existing software or operating systems
• Integrations for hardware and software systems
• Feasibility studies for new software ideas
• Product or software testing

Crucially, your project could be eligible, even if it “failed” or evolved into something different from the original brief.

Case study: Rebellion Marketing

We helped marketing agency, Rebellion Marketing get back more than 25% of the development costs of their new social media scheduling software.

“As a marketing agency, the ability to plan and organise projects, especially on social media was essential but, we couldn't find suitable software to suit our needs”, says Director, Jade Scotney. 

“We decided to develop our own software that not only helped us, but could also bring in revenue by being offered to other business owners.”

Being able to recoup some of their costs enabled Rebellion Marketing to take their new software to market more quickly and continuously improve the software without the need for alternative financial investment.

Jade adds: “We claimed for the staff costs, software costs and developer costs.

“Venture Tax made the whole process extremely easy to understand and were able to guide us through providing the details needed to process our claim.”

What types of software project expenditure can be claimed for?

The expenditure that you can claim for is broad, including:

• Employment costs (wages, pension and National Insurance contributions, expenses)
• Freelancers, subcontractors and consultancy fees
• Materials used
• Software and licensing fees
• Utilities (lighting, heating and water etc)
• Trialling a product (even if it fails)
• Prototypes

What can I spend the money on?

You can use your R&D tax credits however you want – helping your business grow year after year.  Or the money can be deducted from your Corporation Tax bill, freeing up cash in a different way.

Best of all, HMRC aims to respond to all claims within 28 days, so the money could be yours sooner than you think.

Is it complicated to make a claim?

R&D Tax claims can be complex but using a Tax Expert that specialises in R&D Tax claims means the hard work is done for you.

We don’t need tonnes of information and can usually work directly with your accountant to get it sorted. We put everything together and make the claim for you.

By really getting to know your business and your eligible project(s), we can ensure that your claim covers everything that you’re entitled to, maximising its value.

We’re here to help you uncover what’s already yours.  If you’d like more information on R&D Tax and whether your business could be eligible, get in touch for a free chat.