Draft Finance Bill legislation - R&D tax relief

The ATT has submitted comments on the draft Finance Bill 2023-24 legislation Corporation tax: research and development published on 18 July 2023.

In summary, we consider that:

• Additional support for ‘R&D intensive’ small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) should be incorporated into any future single scheme, and not operated as a standalone scheme as is currently proposed.
• The suggested commencement date of April 2024 for the new single scheme is too soon, and more time should be taken for consultation and to ensure that it can be delivered successfully.
• The rules around additional support for R&D intensive SMEs should be amended such that two consecutive years of failing to meet the R&D intensive test are required before companies cease to qualify.

We also set out some specific comments on the wording of the draft legislation.

More details on the above can be found in our full response.