Although the uptake in claiming Patent Box relief is still disappointingly low, at just over 1,000, HMRC statistics published today (10 October 2019) show that there continues to be a steady rise in the number of companies claiming Patent Box reliefs.
Patent Box is a tax relief available to profitable companies that have created, or significantly contributed to the creation of, a patented invention. By electing in to the Patent Box companies can take advantage of a 10% corporation tax rate on their patent profits, which compares favourably to the current 19% rate of tax.
HMRC statistics reveal that over the past year the total value from paying a reduced rate of corporation tax stood at £1,035 million. Of this total, 95% was claimed by companies with turnover of more than £50 million and over half of the companies that claimed were either manufacturers or in the pharmaceutical industry.
There appears to be a patent box gap, with many eligible companies not making a claim at all. This could be for a number of reasons.
For those that are tempted to make a claim, many are put off by the fact that there are two separate sets of rules that could apply.These depend on whether the patent was granted before or after July 2016.
At Crowe, we have been helping many of our clients to benefit from the discounted tax rate, but given that there are at least two million active companies in the UK, it seems likely that there are many more not claiming that are paying too much tax unnecessarily.
Insights
Contact us