R&D Tax Credits for the Agriculture Sector
The art of agriculture has been handed down through the ages but this sector now benefiting from refinement through technology. R&D tax claims can come from process improvements, production improvement and scalability and quality control.
What qualifies as R&D in the agriculture sector?
When a good grower or farmer wants to understand their crops or livestock yield we can see innovation. Whether it’s improving their crop yield, or finding ways to save money on site. For example the process of tracking pests and testing different pest control processes, the development of effective fertilisers or adapting and trialling new atmospheric conditions.
Qualifying expenditure is apparent in the development of new machinery and components or the adoption of existing components in a new or non-obvious way. Many agricultural businesses are building new processes to reduce waste or reuse waste products in novel ways, e.g. biofuels.
This sector includes the following types of business.
- Growing of crops
- Animal production
- Mixed farming
- Support activities to agriculture and post-harvest crop activities
- Fishing
- Forestry and Logging
Yes, agricultural businesses can claim under either scheme depending on their size and other deciding factors. Of the R&D tax relief claims made in 2017-18 so far, 90% of them were under the SME scheme equating to 83% of the value claimed.
