Three quarters of small and medium-sized British firms in the food manufacturing industry are likely to be eligible for Research & Development (R&D) tax relief, according to the results of a new Censuswide survey.

The report surveyed 500 senior managers and business owners and was published by specialist tax relief experts, Catax.

According to the survey, 74% of senior managers and business owners at smaller UK food manufacturing firms say they have spent time and money ‘developing a new product or business process over the past three years’, which according to Catax is the “basic requirement for an R&D tax claim”.

However, more than a third (36%) of senior managers and business owners at smaller UK food manufacturing firms have never even heard of R&D tax relief.

Of those who have, one in three (34%) incorrectly believe it is restricted to specialist hi-tech science or pharmaceutical companies.

Meanwhile, more than half (53%) of managers or owners who have heard of R&D assume the research and development needs to be successful to qualify for a tax relief claim.

Mark Tighe.

Mark Tighe, CEO at Catax, commented: “With raw ingredients getting more expensive by the day, the importance of this sort of tax relief has never been more apparent. In our experience of working with companies in this sector, claims can run into hundreds of thousands of pounds, which shows how crucial it is that firms seek advice about the tax relief they could be due.’’