- By Buckinghamshire Business First
- 2 September, 2025
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Talking Heads is the podcast from Buckinghamshire Business First that explores the business landscape through conversations with local and national business leaders and personalities.
Episode 30: Demystifying R&D Tax Credits for SMEs: Insights and Practical Guidance
About this episode
Kris Theophanous (Bradbury Tracks) and Liza Rowles (Seymour Taylor) discuss the essentials of R&D tax credits for SMEs, covering eligibility, common pitfalls, documentation best practices, recent regulatory changes, and the value of professional advice.
Listen to real-world examples and actionable tips that help businesses understand how to maximise their claims and avoid costly mistakes.
The importance of tax relief for SMEs
Liza Rowles: "I think R&D tax relief is one of those areas where people have claimed and things have gone wrong in the past. But fundamentally for an SME business, it can be really crucial. It's either a reduction to their tax liability or potentially where they're actually getting cash back from HMRC.
"For start-up businesses, that cash can be absolutely critical and can genuinely make or break a business getting going in those early years."
Always ask about R&D Tax Credits
Liza Rowles: "You don't want to get into a position where you're an SME starting out and you could have claimed, but you didn't, and then it's too late because you you've run out of cash and the business has gone under. That's a horrible position to be in. So always ask the question."
The changing landscape of R&D
Liza Rowles: "The biggest bit has been the availability to utilise overseas workers. Historically, we've always been able to claim for subcontracting work overseas. That has now changed, subject to what I refer to as "the volcano test", which is essentially, if you couldn't do it in this country. If you're doing work on volcanoes, you have to go somewhere else to do it. So obviously, you can claim for those R&D costs. But if it was something that you could do in this country, the fact that it's cheaper or for operational reasons, you're choosing to do it overseas, you now can't claim for those costs."
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