In the Autumn Budget, the changes were made clear under the government’s ambition to make the UK a “science and technology superpower”. Rishi Sunak mentioned that the “reliefs need to reflect how businesses conduct research in the modern world” after years of many tech companies calling on the expansion of the scope for reliefs to include cloud and data costs, given the importance of such technology in driving productivity.
The COVID 19 pandemic showed how data and cloud computing were vital to businesses in response to the governments announcements for businesses to work from home, where possible. Countless businesses have relied on data insights to understand changes in markets and adapt to what is classed as the ‘new normal’, they’ve had to research and develop new products and service lines that support future growth for the business. The cloud has become even more important during the pandemic, with cloud powered systems enabling companies to remain in contact, share information and work collaboratively to develop new products and services, remotely.
Detailed proposals on R&D tax reliefs will be published in due course, but the changes are expected to be introduced from April 2023.