Article 97
0038
<<<<
Blockchain Industry Review
Innovating with Blockchain could save your business tax – R&D Tax Credits Explained by Shaun Bartle, Associate Director Finch & Associates
The last few years has seen huge adoption of Blockchain being integrated across almost every industry, from real estate to finance to logistics to retail. There has also been an increase in companies creating their own native cryptocurrency to enhance their business, such as a token that is tracked to the supply chain of jewellery, allowing the end user to know exactly where the material has been sourced from. So, what does this have to do with saving your business on tax? The UK Governments Research & Development Tax Credit Scheme! This generous tax -saving scheme allows companies who are innovating to reduce their corporation tax burden and potentially receive a game-changing cash injection to the business. The scheme does, on the face of it, sound too good to be true, but I can assure you that is not the case. The scheme is a Government incentive that rewards UK companies for pushing the boundaries of innovation and help to fuel growth in the UK, making a claim can potentially provide a valuable cash injection into the business and reduce your corporation tax bill. To qualify, a business must be seeking an advance in science or technology, and when trying to achieve this, encounters scientific or technological uncertainties that are not readily deducible by an expert in that given field. A loss-making company which qualifies for the SME scheme can potentially recoup up to 33p in every £1 spent on qualifying R&D activity (more on this later),
whilst a profit-making company profit-making company can potentially reclaim up to 26p in every £1 spent.
How does this relate to Blockchain? The core value that underpins Blockchain is that it acts as a consensus mechanism that enables a database to be directly shared without a central administrator, essentially cutting out the middle man. Not only this, Blockchain offers businesses advantages such as trust, transparency, efficiency, reduced transaction costs but with faster transaction settlements, and with the pace of technology moving faster than ever before, it was inevitable that technology such as Blockchain would begin to become “the next big thing”, no doubt being helped by the crypto-craze we’ve been encountering with its various highs since 2017. The number of companies exploring the use of Blockchain and actually integrating it into their day-to-day operations has significantly increased. This has led to higher volumes of R&D claims being made where companies are innovating with Blockchain.
So what is the benefit of doing an R&D claim? Credit where it’s due! SME’s can claim an additional 130% deduction of the qualifying expense incurred Whether you are profit or loss making, you may still be eligible for the relief, with up to 33p in every £1 spent on qualifying R&D activity potentially being recovered.
