Farmers not making most of R&D tax credits

The UK agriculture industry benefitted by just £10 million from the government’s R&D tax credits in 2017, new statistics have revealed.

The sector accounted for less than one per cent of all the claims submitted, underlining the industry’s failure to capitalise on the potential of the initiative, according toUK tax advisory Momentum Group.

Designedto encourage companies to invest in R&D, the tax credits allowcompanies to reduce their tax bill or claim payable cash credits as a proportion of their R&D expenditure.

According to annual HMRC statistics, the average value received per R&D Tax Credit claim by businesses in agriculture, forestry and fishing was £41,000.

This is less than half of the £85,000 average across all the industries surveyed.

The Momentum Group, which advises exclusively on R&D tax credits, said most agriculture companies are either not aware of the credits, wrongly think they don’t qualify or believe they don’t have enough experience to submit a claim.

The advisory’s group managing director Tom Verner said: “In our experience, there are still so many agriculture businesses that are either not aware of R&D Tax Credits, incorrectly think they do not qualify or feel they lack the necessary experience to submit a claim. In fact, many companies are not claiming their full legitimate entitlement.

“It is vital that the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry recognises the potential of this very accessible UK government incentive.

“Given the potential, we find it startling that more companies aren’t claiming.”