UK and International Tax news

HMRC Issues latest Research & Development Tax Credit Statistics

Wednesday 6th October 2021

HMRC has issued the latest Research and Development tax credit statistics for the year ended 31 March 2020.

The latest National Statistics publication produced by HMRC provides information on the number of companies claiming R&D tax credits and its associated cost to the Exchequer for claims covering the period up to the year ending March 2020.

Headline numbers from the statistical tables published alongside HMRC’s commentary document are as follows:

  • The estimated total number of R&D tax credit claims for the year ending March 2020 is 85,900, an increase of 16% from the previous year. The increase is primarily driven by a 16% rise in the number of SME R&D claims to 76,225.
  • The estimated total amount of R&D tax relief support claimed for the year ending March 2020 is £7.4bn, an increase of 19% from the previous year. This corresponds to £47.5bn of R&D expenditure, 15% higher than the previous year.
  • There is a concentration of claims by companies with registered offices in London (20% of total claims and 31% of total amount claimed), and the South East (15% of total claims and 18% of total amount claimed). However, the registered office location may not be where all the R&D activity takes place.
  • The Information and Communication, Manufacturing, and Professional, Scientific and Technical sectors continued to have the greatest volume of claims, making up 64% of claims and 69% of the total amount claimed for the year ending March 2020.

HMRC notes that the latest statistics are provisional and have been uplifted to include estimates for claims not yet received. Claims for the year ending March 2020 can still be submitted past the cut-off date for NS publication. Statistics will be revised in next year’s publication to include claims received after the cut-off date. More detailed geographical and sectoral breakdowns are planned to be published in Spring 2022.

The next release is planned to be in Autumn 2022.

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