Aberdeen has been hailed as one of the UK’s most innovative cities.
According to research by specialist tax relief firm Catax, the Granite City is in the top 10 for research and development (R&D) tax credits.
A total of 180 claims worth £25million were submitted by Aberdeen firms in the 2015/16 tax year, Catax’s figures show.
Europe’s oil and gas capital was sixth behind Manchester, Edinburgh, Belfast, Glasgow and Bristol, Catax said.
Businesses which spend time and money developing a new product, business process or service can potentially claim tax relief for R&D. In Catax’s experience, the average claim is worth £44,000.
The firm said: “Despite these figures, there is a common misconception that the R&D needs to be successful in order to qualify for this type of relief. An incredible 72% of senior business leaders don’t realise this is not the case and that, as long as time and money has been spent, the R&D could qualify.
“There also continues to be a lack of awareness around what qualifies for R&D tax relief in the first place.”
Catax chief executive Mark Tighe added: “Whilst it is true that more businesses are claiming the R&D tax relief that is rightfully theirs, far too many SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) still don’t realise that they qualify.”
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