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R& D Tax Credits for the Automotive Industry
Advancements in technology over the past few years have led to greater opportunities for R&D tax relief in the automotive and logistics industries.
R&D Tax Relief in the Automotive & Logistics Industry
Many businesses operating in the automotive industry sector push technological boundaries on a daily basis. Whether it’s prototyping, development or experimentation with materials or physical production processes, there’s a wide variety of disciplines involved in advancing automotive manufacturing science.
R&D tends to be distributed throughout the supply chain. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) will usually have plenty of R&D of their own, but a huge amount will also be carried out by the various tiers of their respective supply chains. In many ways, OEMs today are not so much car builders as they are systems integrators, taking other companies’ technologies and assembling them into a whole vehicle.
R&D tax credits can provide significant financial rewards to companies in the automotive & logistics sectors. R&D tax relief can be claimed on day-to-day costs and expenditure, including things like staff, subcontractors, materials, software and utilities.
Our customers say…
While working with Visiativ, we identified eligible expenditure that we would have otherwise excluded without the help of their technical experts. The tax benefit we received has massively helped our business, and we can now continue our development of electric vehicle solutions.
Kevin Wells, Head of Strategic Finance, Lotus Cars Limited
Examples of qualifying activity for R&D Tax Relief
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✓Automation of driving, e.g. adaptive cruise control, auto braking, auto parallel parking.
✓ Sensors and other technologies – infra-red, cameras, GPS etc.
✓ Using new materials to reduce the weight or increase the rigidity of chassis.
✓ Engine controls and efficiency.
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✓ Emissions controls.
✓ Alternative fuels (bio-fuels, fuel cells).
✓ Batteries (for hybrid or electric vehicles) – capacity and safety.
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✓ Attempts to increase the percentage of a car that can be easily recycled.
✓ Corrosion protection.
✓ New safety tech (lithium batteries and hydrogen can be dangerous – new safety features required?).
How Visiativ can help you
At Visiativ, we can help your company make robust, successful, compliant R&D tax relief claims. You’ll benefit from the streamlined processes and years of experience we’ve built up submitting thousands of R&D tax credit claims successfully.
With our support, you’ll be able to:
- demonstrate which of your activities qualify under the scheme
- open up a new revenue stream to fund further R&D projects, and
- learn how to make the best use of the scheme going forward.
