Paul Rosser explains how a fridge landed an R&D advisor in hot water.
It was back in August 2021 when a Robert Paterson, MD of James Mackie Wholesale Ltd, was contacted by the R&D advisor Stephen McCallion, owner of ZLX Ltd, to discuss the potential of James Mackie making a claim for R&D tax relief.
A meeting was arranged and on 27 August Paterson and McCallion had an hour-long discussion, at the end of which McCallion informed Paterson that a claim for R&D tax relief could be made in relation to the installation of a new refrigeration unit James Mackie had undertaken in 2018/19.
The exact details of the hour-long discussion are in dispute. If we believe Paterson, then he informed McCallion that the refrigeration unit “had merely been purchased off-the-shelf from a specialist contractor” and he “spent no more than about 15 minutes in selecting, purchasing and arranging the installation of the refrigeration unit”.
If, however, we believe McCallion’s version of events, then the conversation went into great detail with regards to how this new type of refrigeration unit would be used to extend the shelf life of products.
In either case, Paterson said that whilst he was initially sceptical, McCallion was insistent and persuasive that the refrigeration unit install would meet the criteria for an R&D claim, and so Paterson agreed to proceed.
Download the full article below: