Much of this innovation has been tried and tested in the field rather than the laboratory; by farmers rather than scientists. How many times have you looked at doing things in a different way or at a different time to overcome particular difficulties?
Many farmers are carrying out innovative work, moving the industry forward in what may seem like small ways but missing out on generous tax allowances for research and development introduced to encourage and reward such efforts.
Climate change and protecting
precious resources are also driving advances in innovation.
Does your company carry out any work in improving quality, efficiency or output in any of the following areas? With increased regulation perhaps you are looking at alternatives to existing chemical-based solutions? Does your farm have a particular challenge that you need to overcome?
- Crop productivity or disease resistance
- Soil quality
- Food production
- Pest control
- Animal husbandry
- Carbon footprint reduction
- Water conversation
- Biodiversity
Where projects qualify, a small or medium-sized company can claim an additional 130% research and development (‘R&D’) tax relief on all qualifying expenditure – so qualifying costs of £50,000 would attract additional deduction of £65,000 (with a corporation tax rate of 19% this is an additional £12,350 reduction in that company’s tax bill). Qualifying costs will typically include employee costs, materials and utilities relevant to the project.
Not all projects will qualify for the R&D relief – only those that seek (not necessarily successfully) to make an advance or overcome a technological uncertainty that would not be easily resolved by a typical, competent farmer. It is, however, surprising how many projects could qualify.
We can help you to evaluate the merits of a claim and, if appropriate, quantify the costs and prepare the submission to HMRC.