PSS TAX · SERVICE 13
AN R&D TAX CREDIT SPOTTER GUIDE
The Simple Test
R&D may arise where chemists, material scientists or technical specialists are trying to create or appreciably improve the properties, behaviour, manufacture or application of a material or formulation, and the required outcome cannot readily be predicted from existing scientific knowledge.
Chemicals, Materials & Formulation
Don’t rule it out just because…
Every individual ingredient already exists
Competitors sell apparently similar products
The development was driven by regulation
The project involved improving an existing formulation
Some trials failed completely
The objective was lower cost or environmental impact
R&D vs probably not R&D
Potentially R&D
Developing and systematically testing an alternative formulation to remove a restricted substance while maintaining adhesion, curing behaviour and long-term environmental resistance where no established substitute achieved all requirements.
Probably not R&D by itself
Substituting one raw material for a known equivalent using established formulation data without significant scientific uncertainty.