ARTICLE · 05 NOVEMBER 2026

Patent Box Take-up: What Has Changed Since The Beginning?

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The value of Patent Box tax relief has surpassed £2 billion for the first time, with 1,735 companies projected to benefit in 2024/25. While large companies account for 95% of the relief, seven in ten users are SMEs, suggesting significant untapped potential among innovative businesses that may not realize their patented features or processes could qualify for this valuable tax incentive.

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Catherine Bonner

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The value of Patent Box tax relief has passed £2 billion for the first time, while the number of companies using the scheme is also starting to rise after several years of little movement.

The latest figures from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) show that 1,735 companies are projected to have elected into Patent Box in 2024/25, receiving £2.283 billion in relief.

Go back to 2013/14 when the Patent Box scheme started, the picture looked very different. In that year, 835 companies were elected into the scheme, and the value of relief was only £376 million.

Most of the growth in take-up happened during the early years of the regime, followed by a plateau in recent years. But the latest figures now show two consecutive years of significant growth in the tax relief claimed.

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