2015 Summer Budget – R & D update

In brief, the Chancellor announced two changes likely to affect the R & D community yesterday:

1. A cut in UK corporation tax rates from 20% to 19% from 01 April 2017 and a further drop to 18% from April 2020

2. An alignment to the RDEC (large company R & D tax credit) for Universities and Research Institutes

The drop in corporate tax rates is particularly welcome and hopefully further paves the way for a further uplift in the rate of R & D tax relief for innovative companies ( we continue the pressure to uplift to 330%)!

But I am often asked about the UK’s long term commitment to R & D and the wider corporate tax road map for innovative companies. So it was interesting to hear a talk from the Minister of Science a few days before the Budget, confirming the Chancellor’s strong support for R & D and the UK’s high regard and direct support for the work of the innovation community. This now includes an investment of £6.9bn in infrastructure up to 2021 and the announcment of funded capital projects of £2.9bn for frontier R & D project work.

Take a look at the Minster of Science talk and the UK’s commitment to the R & D community here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/research-innovate-grow-the-role-of-science-in-our-long-term-economic-plan