Introduced by the UK Government in 2000, the R&D tax relief scheme is designed to encourage innovation and global competitiveness by allowing companies to reclaim some of the money invested in qualifying research and development.
R&D tax credits are generally considered to be one of the most attractive tax reliefs available, often resulting in significant cash repayments from HMRC.
R&D in Breweries & Whisky Manufacturing
Making; changing; improving or attempting to overcome technical or manufacturing problems are all indicators for eligibility for R&D tax relief. Beer brewing and distilling alcohol are similar in that they both produce an alcohol product.
Beer is still produced in a traditional multi-stage process that breaks down natural starches into sugars. Brewery starches are usually derived from cereal grains. Yeast organisms are then used to ferment the extracted sugars producing alcohol as a natural by-product. Hops, are also a crucial component of the brewing process, imparting flavours, aromas and bitterness to the beer.
The distillation of alcohol to produce spirits e.g. whisky, also involves producing sugars from cereal grains and adding yeasts to ferment these sugars. The resulting liquid is then distilled until the alcohol content reaches the desired level. Spirits such as whisky are then matured in casks where it becomes smoother, gains flavour, and draws its golden colour from the cask.
What are the potential areas of eligibility?
A vast range of activity, which could include:
- Elimination of artificial preservatives/additives.
- Investigation of new filtration methods.
- New product development.
- Trials with new raw materials.
- Trials with new production methods.
- Changing alcohol content of a product.
- Scale up to production of a new product.
- Extending shelf life of product.
What problems might a company face?
- Problems caused with variation in raw materials.
- Ingredient stability and performance (e.g. colourings, additives, clouding).
- Scale-up of batch processes.
- Poor shelf life products.
- Poor production efficiency.
- Poor ingredient/enzyme performance due to process changes.
Eligibility questionnaire
If you can answer 'Yes' to most of these questions, then based on our experience across thousands of clients, it looks like you could have a successful claim:
- Have you developed new tools, products or services using technology?
- Have you tried to improve your existing products through technical changes?
- Have you had to resolve technical problems with any of your products?
- Have you found more efficient ways to produce your products or services?
- Have you experimented with new equipment or production techniques?
- At the start of a project, did you ever think 'I'm not sure of the best way to do this'?
- Have any of your projects failed for technical reasons?
Why Jumpstart?
THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE. Experience gained through years of daily involvement in putting together thousands of successful R&D tax claims. Expertise built through a detailed programme of training and study, maintained and regularly enhanced.
We have helped literally thousands of businesses, some of whom had no idea they would qualify, to recover over a WHOPPING £100m in R&D tax relief benefits.
