The channel has welcomed a move by IT trade body Intellect to train tax inspectors from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) on the software market to encourage SME software research and development.
Currently, SMEs involved in software research and development can apply for tax credits to assist with development costs. However, until now assessments have been carried out by tax inspectors who lack any speci-fic training on the industry.
Tom Wells-Sandford, deputy director general at Intellect, told CRN that if tax inspectors are not trained to understand software research and development, there could be difficulties during the assessment of applicable tax credits.
“This is the minimum that the government could do, but we have every ambition of helping the tax inspectors to assess what SMEs are developing,” he said. “The main benefit is that SMEs will now have assessments from tax inspectors that understand the software industry.”
The two-day training course consists of various elements, including an overview of the industry, how software is developed and a number of case studies.
Jeremy Sherwood, senior specialist on research and development at HMRC, said: “We naturally want our inspectors to gain a fuller understanding of the research and development processes, so they can help companies make better claims for tax relief.”
Shaune Parsons, managing director of VAR Computer World Wales, said: “The government needs to support the software market. If it grows there might be an indirect benefit for the channel, such as in hardware.”
Shaune Frohlich, chairman of software asset management organisation Investors in Software, said: “This ultimately seems like a sensible idea and although two days may not seem like enough training time, it’s certainly better than nothing.”
Intellect said that in the coming months it also plans to roll out similar training schemes for tax inspectors assessing tax credits for software research and development at the enterprise level.
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