by Steve Livingston on January 24, 2012
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The Patent Box lands in the UK on 1 April 2013 as part of the government’s bid to make the UK a more attractive and globally competitive place to do business.
I won’t dish out the detail of the patent box right now suffice to say that it will provide a lower rate of UK corporation tax for patent income (10%). The main rate of corporation tax is currently 26% and will be 24% at the time of the introduction of this new relief.
The patent box is not new – other countries have successfully piloted similar schemes (some EU countries with more attractive patent box rates than our proposed rate) and now the US is taking a serious look.
We already have the R&D tax credit in the UK to reward companies engaged in pushing the envelope of knowledge in the areas of science and technology although some 12 years post intro there are still many companies that are struggling to get to grips with this increasingly attractive tax incentive and many who have yet to make a claim (much to my frustration!).
HMRC recently held a meeting outlining the new patent box relief (slides here). I am not the only one left thinking that once companies have gone to the hassle of calculating the profits attributable to this lower rate, there may not be much eligible for the special 10% tax rate!
This is a good initiative but yet again the implementation of this tax incentive leaves a headache for companies and their advisors. What are your thoughts on what you’ve seen so far?
by Steve Livingston on November 10, 2010
Over 1,000 tax incentives have been identified and collated as part of the first stage of the Office of Tax Simplification work – tax advisers across the UK nod wearily! The next step is to review which tax incentives can be eliminated to ‘simplify’ UK tax. Target date for the first review is the next Budget scheduled for 23 March 2011.
I’m in two minds about this - on the one hand, there is little doubt that UK tax legislation has got way out of hand in terms of complexity (for many accountants lets alone business owners!). On the other, there are many targeted tax incentives which appear to have worked well to promote future growth areas e.g. R&D tax credits and the forthcoming ‘patent box’ (promising lower rates of tax) encourage innovation and enhanced capital allowances encourage investment in greener plant and machinery. There are plenty of other targeted tax incentives aimed at putting our economy on a firmer footing for the longer term future. Look at the Dyson Report on Making Britain a Hi-Tech Exporter and the recent Blueprint for Technology report for further support for targeted tax incentives.
Taxation can be effectively used as a carrot to incentivise investment (both cash and more importantly entrepreneurial zeal) in key growth areas, such as intellectual property-rich digital, tech and creative industries; those businesses and sectors that should provide longer term prospects for a healthy UK and global export economy. So why tinker?
Having said that, the relatively recent announcement to provide new start-ups with a holiday from National Insurance Contributions sounds well placed and simple enough – until you look at the detail (and this is just a summary of the detail!).
Overall, I am concerned that putting an axe to scores of these targeted tax incentives in the name of ‘simplification’ could have far-reaching and painful longer term repercussions for the UK economy. Yet we do need to plot a way through the streams of red-tape and bureacracy facing businesses so things must change.
Welcome your views.
