Client Overview
Our client is a leading end-to-end engineering solutions company with global offices in Germany, China, France, UK, US, Canada, and a global workforce of over 2300 engineers. They assist large businesses bring expertise that caters to their digital, engineering, and smart manufacturing needs. The company deals in creating innovative, sustainable, and safer products worldwide for Fortune 100 clients and excels in delivering business values across the entire engineering lifecycle for companies across domains like manufacturing engineering, mechanical engineering, tools design and development, additive manufacturing, embedded solutions, IOTs, PLM, and more.
Problem Statement
Our client is a leading name in the engineering solutions space worldwide with significant workforce distributed across the world. The core of our client’s services is their technology team that is set up in the UK and partially offshore and helps complete significant attention-to-detail engineering processes and projects.
We have been assisting the client with their R&D tax credit claims for over four years. When we first helped the client prepare their claim a few years ago, the company was not sure how to benefit from the UK R&D Tax Credits scheme, given the benefit of doubt that the guidelines on the government portal stated complex explanations on the necessity of including science and technology, technological advancements, and uncertainties. Our client was unsure about the overall criteria for R&D Tax Credits scheme and to what extent it could be applied to their projects. They were also unsure whether any engineering development work could be classified under R&D, or if the scheme was limited only to ground-breaking scientific research. Additionally, our client was concerned about the potential risks and challenges associated with claiming R&D tax credits, such as the possibility of audits or disagreements with tax authorities regarding the eligibility of their projects.
Our Process
Our team of experts presented the client with a thorough explanation of the R&D Tax Credits scheme and its application to various industries especially the engineering sector. ResearchQX then initiated a detailed discussion around one of their ongoing mechanical engineering-based process development works for various large high-end machine and tools manufacturers. Further a detailed technical discussion was conducted to understand the scope of R&D across the project in various fields such as precision-based work, workability of the engineering and manufacturing systems, etc.
With a comprehensive understanding of the projects, ResearchQX developed a detailed costing model that considered various parameters including the nature of engagement with customers (turnkey development or staff augmentation), and associated factors. This model served as a foundation for reviewing each project in detail and assessing its eligibility for R&D tax credits.
Based on the assessment, ResearchQX prepared a comprehensive report that outlined the end-to-end methodology employed and provided detailed technical descriptions of the qualifying project spend. Thanks to the meticulousness of the report and the supporting evidence provided as well as a low risk profile with a record of successful claims made in recent years, the client’s latest R&D claim was approved by HMRC with a quick turnaround time of under 1 month following submission.
Key Metrics
Through our collaboration, our client has continued to benefit from the claim settlement. They have also improved their knowledge about the overall UK R&D Tax Credit scheme in general and how the rules apply to their other ongoing projects.
By leveraging our expertise and navigating the complexities of the R&D Tax Credits scheme, we successfully guided our client through the process, helping them unlock significant financial benefits and gain a competitive edge in their industry.
