Southsea accountants expands, takes on 8 new staff and helps firms claim over £750k in R&D tax relief

BC&A Chartered Accountants in Southsea has recently launched a new research and development division, which has seen around 20 firms from across the south coast claim back £750,000 in R&D tax relief.

Director, Tahir Ahmed, brought in the new service in November last year, to help businesses claw back some funds which they may have lost due to the pandemic.

He found that there were a lot of people who weren’t aware that they could claim money back and were missing out.

Tahir said: ‘Most businesses aren’t aware that they are doing research and development, never mind realising they are eligible to claim, but there’s actually research and development in every business. We have contacted a lot of businesses we believe are eligible to claim back and when they learn that they are able to it’s usually very unexpected. The average claim we deal with is around the £50,000 mark.

‘We’d urge any business that has done any form of research to check whether they’re eligible for R&D tax relief. It typically applies to businesses which are turning over £500,000 a year or more. We’ve worked with lots of different sizes of firms, from ones that haven’t even started trading yet, to ones with £1m-£10m turnovers.’

Tahir has appointed Suganthan Vetharajah as head of R&D and has brought eight new members of staff in to specialise in the division.

He is planning to expand even more post-lockdown, hiring more new staff and moving the R&D team into the office space above the existing Elm Grove premises.

Tax relief can be claimed by any businesses, that seek to research and develop an advance in their sector or area of expertise.

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Limited companies can apply to claim a tax relief on any innovative projects that focus on science and technology and can even claim if the project was unsuccessful.

Tahir founded BC&A in 2003 and has built up a 1500-strong client base since.

As well as the R&D division, BC&A offers book-keeping, final accounts, taxation, payroll, company secretarial, tax investigations, liquidations, business advice and more.

Its staff has been working with clients throughout the pandemic, supporting with the various coronavirus-related grants.

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