Should More Companies Be Thinking Inside The (Patent) Box?

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has recently published annual statistics relating to the UK's Patent Box tax relief scheme for the tax year 2019 to 2020. As explained in a bit more detail in my previous article relating to the update from the tax year 2018 to 2019, the UK Patent Box enables companies to apply a lower rate of Corporation Tax in the UK to profits earned after 1 April 2013 from qualifying patented inventions and equivalent forms of intellectual property.

The present update for 2019 to 2020 indicates that 1,395 companies claimed relief under the Patent Box, and the total value of relief claimed was £1,220 million. This is a slight reduction in number of companies claiming (in 2018 to 2019; 1,405 companies) but an increase in total value claimed (in 2018 to 2019; £1,129 million), which maintains the trend of ever increasing value of relief claimed year on year from its introduction in tax year 2013 to 2014.