2023 HMRC R&D statistics

The key findings were:

• 11% more tax relief claimed: The total value of R&D tax relief claimed increased by an impressive 11% to reach £7.6 billion, compared to last year’s total of £6.8 billion.
• Top sectors: There is a concentration in the number of claims in the Information & Communication (23%), Manufacturing (23%) and Professional, Scientific & Technical (16%) sectors, accounting for 67% of the total amount claimed. These trends remain similar to previous years.
• 8% more R&D expenditure: Total R&D expenditure rose to £44.1 billion in 2021/22, from £38.1 billion in the previous year. Most of this expenditure (60%) was by companies claiming under the R&D expenditure credit (RDEC) scheme.
• 5% more claims: In 2021/22, there were a total of 90,315 claims, which is a 5% increase from the previous year. Claims increased across both the SME and RDEC schemes.
• Regional analysis: The statistics show that there is a concentration of claims by companies with registered offices in London (22% of total claims and 32% of total amount claimed), and the South East of England (15% of total claims and 18% of total amount claimed). However, it is important to note that the registered office location may not be where all the R&D activity takes place.

It is interesting to see the continuing trend of an increase in claims given that HMRC are placing more scrutiny on claims.

How can haysmacintyre help with your R&D claim?

Our dedicated R&D tax team can help you maximise the available benefits by:

• Identifying R&D projects
• Preparing and submitting your R&D claims to HMRC
• Reviewing and replacing previously understated claims
• Helping to set up internal procedures to capture R&D data
• Helping to maximise the benefit from R&D tax losses

If you would like to know how your company could benefit from R&D tax reliefs, please get in touch with Diana Negentsova, Senior Manager, or Rico Harris, Manager.