The Coalition’s approach to Research & Development incentives and the patent box policy is awaiting the Autumn Statement and a future consultation. Internationally, R&D incentives are becoming increasingly common. In a recent survey of 37 countries, 36 countries offered incentives of one sort or other, a signifi cant proportion of which are provided through tax mechanisms. Against this backdrop, a clear vision of the incentives that the UK can offer, starting from early research through to active exploitation of intellectual property, is needed if businesses are to choose to site their activities here.
