A Bangor-based tax consultancy is spending £500,000 to expand into the Republic as its client list of Irish businesses seeking support with R&D tax relief continues to grow.
The Momentum Group is investing in Dublin city centre offices and expanding its team as part of the company’s commitment to supporting SMEs in Ireland.
The announcement comes as the latest figures from Revenue reveal that Irish companies have claimed over €1.1 billion in R&D tax relief with experts predicting more than three quarters will go to large businesses.
The provisional statistics for 2022 also reveal claims have been lodged by over 1,551 companies across Ireland.
With processing of returns continuing, these figures may fluctuate but when the final tally is revealed, experts predict a similar picture to the previous year when 77% of claims came from large companies (250 employees and over) and smaller businesses accounted for just 23%.
Founded in 2009, Momentum Group (www.momentumtaxgroup.ie) has a strong track record of working with businesses across multiple sectors in Republic, Northern Ireland and other parts of the UK.
Managing director Tom Verner said the time is right for the company to continue its growth and expand into the Republic of Ireland market.
He added: “We already work with a number of Irish businesses, so it is right that we establish a real presence in the Republic of Ireland.
“Ireland’s SMEs need support to help the country become a global economic powerhouse in technology and this investment, over three years, is evidence of our commitment to providing that expert support.
“The Momentum Group stands ready to help these businesses save time and money by identifying, analysing and optimising R&D opportunities.
“The Government’s Impact 2030 strategy seeks to put the full spectrum of research, development and innovation at the heart of addressing some of the country’s biggest challenges.
“To support this strategy, the Irish Government has made some headline changes to the R&D Tax Relief scheme such as increasing the rate to 30%.
“Despite the incentives, it’s clear SMEs are still not availing of tax credits in sufficient numbers, while the larger companies, who have the resources to devote to making claims for their qualifying R&D expenditure are.
“If the Government is to realise its ambitions and make Ireland an R&D powerhouse, then more needs to be done to encourage smaller businesses to be even more innovative and to claim for the work they are doing.”
He said SMEs report a number of barriers when it comes to compiling tax relief claims, but the two biggest are the complexity of putting a claim together and knowing what does or doesn’t qualify.
