In the 2012 Budget the Government announced that the Patent Box will come into force in April 2013. The Patent Box is a scheme whereby companies can apply a lower rate of Corporation Tax to profits earned from its patents after this date.The relief is being phased in from 2013 to 2017.
In the 2013 financial year 60% of the relevant intellectual property profits will be included when calculating the Patent Box deduction. Once the full benefit of the regime is in effect in April 2017 the lower rate of Corporation Tax to be applied to these profits will be 10%.
The relief will apply if your company owns or exclusively licenses patents granted by the UK Intellectual Property Office, European Patent Office and various other countries. If your company holds licenses to use others' technology it may still be able to benefit and the relief may also be used where a company uses a manufacturing process that is patented or provides a service using a patented tool.
Patent Box is focussed on patents rather than other forms of intellectual property. This is welcoming news for the tech industry and a wide range of sectors will benefit. It is hoped that Patent Box will provide an incentive for companies in the UK to invest in the design and development of new innovative patented products.
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