In July, I blogged about the importance of using a specialist. In that blog, I commented on the websites I see of firms claiming expertise that the technical errors on those websites would suggest they don’t really have.

Yesterday, I was directed to the site of a small specialist R&D consultancy who state that, whilst administered by HMRC, the UK’s R&D relief provides money from a “European Fund” from which the UK Government is determined to “receive a full share”.

The SME R&D relief does fall within the EU State Aid rules and must comply with those rules, but both reliefs are very much UK Corporation tax reliefs funded by the UK Exchequer.

Of course, it’s easy for an R&D tax relief expert like myself to spot these obvious errors of understanding, but what of the prospective client looking for help and guidance on their claim? If the “specialist” firm they go to can’t get the basics right on its website, how likely is it that the client will get the best advice on their claim?