Working with R&D tax experts can free up extra money to invest in creating the next innovation for your business and sector. However, HMRC’s rebate system is struggling to keep up with a backlog of claims which is putting extra pressure on businesses in the light of Brexit uncertainty.

Claims should be processed within 28 days, but some tax relief rebates have been facing delays of up to six months according to Bloomberg.

For small to medium sized businesses, this delay can be extremely problematic, as they exist on research and development on a ‘and to mouth’ basis according to Seamus Nevin, chief economist at Make U.K., the industry association for British manufacturers.

“Having to wait months at a time to access government tax credits has left many smaller employers in a precarious condition”

“They need a consistent flow of cash coming into the company, so having to wait months at a time to access government tax credits has left many smaller employers in a precarious condition,” he explained.

Without the confidence that the government will deliver on time, these businesses may lose confidence in investing in schemes which would eventually lead to job and wealth generation.

Some of the programs affected by delays are said to have cases leading back to December last year, while another has a backlog to claims made in April.

HMRC has said that all cases have been scrutinised to the same degree irrespective of size of structure of the business, and apologise for some not receiving payments as quickly as they had hoped, promising they had taken on extra staff to help with the workload.

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