Employer pension contributions are classed as qualifying expenditure for the purposes of a research and development (R&D) tax credit claim. As long as the staff member is involved in your R&D project, you can include their employer pension contributions in your claim.
For staff undertaking R&D activities, the following costs can be included in an R&D tax credit claim: salaries, employer’s National Insurance contributions, employer pension contributions, and some reimbursed business expenses.
For R&D tax credit claims, eligible pension contributions include contributions paid by your company to a pension fund operated for the benefit of employees of your company. The pension fund, scheme, or other arrangement can be established or maintained in the UK or elsewhere.
ForrestBrown specialises in advising innovative businesses on how to optimise their R&D tax credit claims. We have one of the largest teams of chartered tax advisers in the UK specialising in R&D tax credits. We won the coveted Best Independent Consultancy Firm at the 2018 Taxation Awards.