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SKILLS


How to get R&D tax relief if you use technical staff


By Chamber patron Shorts


Do you pay technically-skilled staff to solve scientific or technological problems? If so, this is a good indicator that your company could be claiming support from HMRC towards these, and other associated costs, in R&D tax reliefs. The relief is worth up to 25% of the qualifying cost, with cash payments available from HMRC in some cases. The Government recognises that


innovation drives economic growth and one way it encourages innovation is through the R&D tax credits regime. The reliefs are still widely under-claimed, even though they can be worth almost £25,000 in tax saved for every £100,000 of qualifying spend. One of the main reasons is the


level of innovation required to claim is overestimated. One question we often ask companies we work with is: “Do you pay technically skilled staff to solve technical problems?” If the answer is yes, it’s often the case that activity qualifying for R&D relief is being carried out. The role of the skilled employee


is key when considering R&D reliefs. Recognising that an essential requirement for successful R&D is the skilled individual, HMRC


Shorts’ Sheffield office


‘The role of the skilled employee is key when considering R&D reliefs’


refers to ‘competent professional’ throughout the guidance supporting the regime. A competent professional has a


track record, accumulated knowledge, skills and qualification in the specific field. The competent professional helps define the R&D project, assessing technically challenging areas. If a solution to a problem is not ‘readily deducible’ by the competent professional, then it’s likely R&D has taken place. R&D relief is available for


companies across all sectors and fields of science and technology and, depending on the area your company operates, your competent professional could be a software developer or an engineer, for example. One other point worth bearing in


mind when considering your skilled employees is ensuring you retain these skills in your business. If these skilled individuals were to leave, there could be negative impacts on the business, including taking


knowledge to competitors, the cost and difficulties in replacing them and the uncertainty this creates. There are many ways key


employees can be incentivised in a tax-efficient manner, helping to lock in talent, and this is something which the Radius team liaises with the wider tax planning team at Shorts on. Specialists, such as our dedicated


team at Radius, focus on quickly and concisely assessing a company’s eligibility to claim Research and Development tax reliefs. They will then ensure your claim is completed as painlessly as possible, is compliant (we have a 100% success rate) and is maximised.


How BT is creating digital impact in the


East Midlands for the younger generation By Giles Ellerton, BT Group Regional Director, Midlands and East Anglia


Our purpose at BT is to use the power of communications to make a better world. We are acutely aware that our impact across the communities in which


we live, work and serve, should be a force for good. It is within this context that BT has for many years proactively used our people and technology to work with communities to make a better world. The UK has the largest digital economy in the world as a percentage of


UK GDP, yet there remains a major digital skills challenge. At BT we see four key challenges • 65% of children starting school today will hold jobs that don’t yet exist (New Skills Now – Accenture)


• 11.3 million adults do not have basic digital skills (Lloyds UK Consumer Digital Index 2018)


• Three-in-four businesses report internal digital skills gaps. The estimated cost of the gap to the UK is £63bn a year (DCMS 2018)


• Women will only represent 30% of the UK digital workforce by 2022 (BITC Brace New World)


This is a generational challenge, which is why BT is working with primary


schools to ensure enough young people completing their education in the next generation have the right STEM skills, as well as desire to pursue a career in the digital economy. Since 2014, using the flagship Barefoot Computing programme, BT has


been working in partnership with the British Computing Society, DfE, Computing at Schools and Raspberry Pi in helping primary schools inspire young learners through creating a free-to-download cross-curricula set of lessons, plans and activities for teachers, so they will be able to access and teach computational thinking in each and every subject. Across the East Midlands BT has delivered over 220 Barefoot workshops


and approaching 60% of all primary schools have accessed the curriculum directly or through workshops. This is a fantastic achievement, but we are ambitious to do more. Already, over two million children across the UK have benefited. BT has committed to a target of five million by the end of 2020.


business network May 2019 71


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