George Osborne’s latest budget continues and builds on the governments support of small and medium sized businesses.

In the budget announcement in the commons the chancellor detailed how SME support programmes would be built upon, as the government seeks to support SME growth and their contribution to the economy.

Mr Osborne announced that the budget will increase tax credits for SMEs involved with research and development while operating at a loss, with tax credits set to increase from 11 to 14.5 per cent in April.

The move to provide subsidies to SMEs involved in R&D comes as the new budget seeks to increase UK innovation

Genevieve Moore, a tax partner at London Chartered Accountants Blick Rothenberg LLP, said: “The way the R&D tax relief works for SME’s means the real cash impact will be an increase in the repayment due to the SME from 24.75p to 32.63p for every £1 spent on qualifying R&D.

Peter Grant, CEO, CloudApps, said: “With the business rate discounts that the Chancellor has announced today, SMBs have been given the chance to pursue growth. Receiving these benefits means that companies are able to focus on improving their own workforce and invest time and money in driving innovation internally."

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