Newsletter – Issue number 1 March 2024
7 Mar 2024
Blog
Back in March of this year, the Spring Statement was presented and with regards to changes within R&D claims it was a relatively low key affair. Read our full summary of the changes here.
There were 5 key focus points that we highlighted, one of which being that there was an additional £161 million for compliance. Since the release of this statement we have begun to see the effects of this, with some clients’ claims taking longer to be processed than the average 4 week period, along with more stringent checks to ensure that the claims are valid. In addition to this, another issue to contend with is that as of April 2023, only subcontractors based in the UK will become allowable expenditure.
The following article from Andrew Park from AccountingWeb.co.uk, highlights the issues that HMRC are now facing, with the more stringent compliance as mentioned above they are facing a backlog of claims that are being processed. The latest tactic that has been unveiled is a letter “that is designed to trawl through data and nudge – either through frightening people into self-disclosure of fraudulent claims, educating them to get things right in the first place or, seemingly to stop wasting its time and drop queue clogging claims it doesn’t like.”
However, the article goes on to add that as with previous “one to many” letters from HMRC, there is a likelihood that data anomalies will occur, and the letters might be sent to recipients with genuine claims.
As an accredited firm, our claims go through a strict internal quality control process to ensure that we are only submitting claims on behalf of clients where there has been a scientific or technological advancement. We have produced this article to highlight a possible outcome of HMRC’s ongoing fight against fraudulent claims, and we ask if you are to receive one of these letters, please get in touch with one of the team for advice before taking action.