SIC Code(s) - Check Yours if Claiming R&D Tax Credits

Steve Livingston -

In this newsletter we cover:

  • ❌ UK individuals pay a record £16.7 bn in CGT (but missed planning opp...)
  • 🧐 SIC Code(s) - Check Yours if Claiming R&D Tax Credits
  • 🤓 Your Executive Assistant (for those who hate typing - like me 🙈)

UK individuals pay a record £16.7 bn in CGT (but missed planning opp...)

Interesting article in the FT about the surge in UK individuals paying Capital Gains Tax (CGT) with a record £16.7bn collected for the tax year 2021-22.

There are a number of fairly obvious suspects including:

  • nervous business owners who exited early ahead of rumours of a harmonisation of CGT rates with income tax rates (that never actually transpired...ooops 😳);
  • disillusioned buy-to-let landlords who are fed up with the measly tax relief available on mortgage interest;  
  • the decrease in Entrepreneur's Relief (confusingly now called 'Business Asset Disposal Relief') from £10m to £1m of lifetime gains.

But the article fails to pick up on some tax planning opportunities to help mitigate the CGT suffered.

This includes using SEIS reinvestment relief (= a complete elimination of 50% of a CGT gain) and/or EIS deferral relief (deferral, not a complete elimination but still a useful planning tool) that I explain further in this short video.

SIC Code(s) - Check Yours if Claiming R&D Tax Credits

It is worth noting that one of the first requests on the new Additional Information Form for R&D tax credit claims filed from 8 August 2023 is for the company's SIC code.

SIC codes are four-digit numerical representations of major businesses and industries and if you're not sure what yours currently is, you can check it here.