At MSC R&D we see it as a given that our clients’ R&D Tax Credit claims are compliant.In a number of recent blogs we have stressed the importance of compliance – an area HMRC are slowly but surely putting more resource behind, themselves having recognised the increasing trend in the number and cost of fraudulent claims.
HMRC significantly increased their staff during 2020, trebling the size of their R&D Tax credit teams. There are 3 R&D Tax Credit teams currently operating within HMRC which until recently had around 50 staff in total. It is estimated that each inspector could perhaps handle up to 30 enquiries per year, giving a total of 1,500 enquiries per year, which represents around 2% of the total.
With the addition of 100 new inspectors, the capacity will have risen to between 4,000 and 5,000 enquiries per year, which is approaching 7% of the total submissions.
In addition to an increasing number of enquiries HMRC now has the resource to spend more time reviewing submissions. For an average-sized claim, each inspector would previously have spent anywhere between 5 minutes to an hour reviewing each claim. They now have significantly more resource available to increase this review time. Any larger claims valued at over £100,000 will certainly come under much more rigorous scrutiny.
Our Clients agree
The IDHL Group is one of the fastest growing group of digital marketing agencies in the UK. Unique in its approach, its connected agencies collaborate, providing seamless and direct access to all you’d expect from a full-service agency, yet always delivered by experts.
Mike Sprot is IDHL’s CFO, and we talked to him earlier this year about his experiences working with MSC R&D and the importance of compliance.
He deals with HMRC on a whole range of subjects, and making sure they are putting information into them that is correct and accurate, and therefore ensuring the claim is not at risk, is vitally important. Compliance is key.
Why choose MSC R&D?
With Mike, it essentially boils down to having the comfort of using experts who have worked at HMRC and know the processes and systems and the rules and regulations inside out.
All this makes it a “nice, easy process”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH89hbOlajY&t=3s
People, Process, Quality
Underpinning our ability to deliver are:
- Our people – highly qualified and trained
- Our processes – fast-track, time efficient and thorough – we leave nothing to chance
- Our Quality philosophy – our QA processes are outstanding and reflected in our ISO and EFQM accreditations
But, at the end of the day these words mean nothing if our clients either don’t’ recognise the need and/or appreciate the benefits.
