Who we are
Our Founding Director James, was responsible for formulating R&D claims which were some of the first ever created in the Top Tier London Firms. Since 2005, he has worked as a tax consultant with many companies to develop R&D claim methodologies, client understanding of R&D, and to help them finesse their R&D claims to ensure success without challenge.
In 2012, James having worked for ten years in various Top Tier Firms struck out on his own. Based in Cambridge, UK, for some time we have quietly gone about our R&D work as something of a well kept secret. Producing many hundreds of successful claims for many happy clients of various sizes and industries.
A little bit about how we got here...
From our inception in 2012, we have operated as a Cambridge based boutique tax consultancy. Whilst we originally began as a full-service boutique tax consulting practice, we realised that more and more, R&D work was becoming the backbone of our business and the reason we were frequently recommended to others. Our R&D work drove our growth and picked up a pace, to the point we decided it was time to focus our efforts purely on R&D.
So that's precisely what we have done since March 2016 and since then we have grown rapidly representing more and more happy customers.
So you say that you know what you are doing?
James has been completing R&D claims for clients for year ends as far back as the inception of the R&D legislation in 2000. This has given us a deep technical understanding of the R&D tax legislation and most importantly how that should be interpreted and applied in the real world. We will never bamboozle our clients with technical references and acronyms relevant to our work. R&D is complex, but we seek to distil our knowledge to convey only what is critical to the situation we are presented with on a client by client basis, ensuring we extract and present only concise valid information upon which parties can form a view.
Our appetite for getting it right and striking a balance seems to work. Our experience and established R&D report methodologies enable us to collect and present each individual clients data in a concise and easy to understand report with full worked calculations provided each year.
Since August 2023 however, HMRC have begun to actively conduct detailed enquiry reviews of claims being made. With HMRC now taking a much more proactive approach to reviewing claims, it is more important than ever to get the claim you are making right first time.
This means ensuring you appoint an advisor that helps you ensure that your R&D records, R&D methodologies and understanding of what actually qualifies for R&D, and will be agreed by HMRC to be R&D is more important than ever, otherwise potential enquiries can lead to disallowance of claims and in some cases the imposition of penalties.
​We are here to help you get it right, and we feel a sense of great reward from helping UK companies correctly claim the tax incentives they are entitled to which helps them grow. It means we develop as a nation creating jobs for families like our own.
We love what R&D can do for British based businesses and obtaining valuable tax reliefs for your business in a higher tax environment is more important than ever. So please do not hesitate to get in touch, we won't let you down.
James Doggett FCCA CTA
Managing Director
Symbiotic Tax Consulting (R&D Specialists) Ltd
James has been in tax for quite some time now, since August 2002 to be precise, which was when he joined what was then Deloitte & Touche. James qualified there as a Chartered Certified Accountant in 2004, before moving onto Grant Thornton In London where he qualified as a Chartered Tax Adviser in 2007.
From then until he founded Symbiotic Tax in 2012 he worked in a number of Senior Management roles for Top 30 firms and Tax Boutiques before striking out on his own path.
Since then James has focused on providing all clients with a level of service and insight which is difficult to find elsewhere. This has resulted in James and Symbiotic Tax becoming a go to adviser for companies looking for R&D tax specialist services.
Why choose us then?
R&D tax claims is all we do, however, our background does mean we know how everything else works and fits together in terms of making recommendations which affect you as a complete organisation. For some of our clients this has been absolutely invaluable and they have reconfigured how they work to optimise and simplify their own internal structures, helping them improve their ability to access valuable tax reliefs and simplify their reporting procedures.
We often find it a compliment when we are told that you are nothing like accountants! Whilst most of us started our training as accountants, we have gone on to specialise as tax only professionals, which for most includes qualifying as a Chartered Tax Adviser.
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What marks us out though in terms of our R&D expertise is our geeky nature, we have developed a deep understanding of the businesses and technologies we work with in terms of R&D, some of this is learnt on the job, some of it stems from our own self-interests and backgrounds before we became tax professionals. This means that no matter how complex your R&D is we often are able to get understand or get our heads around it.
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As a UK based and family owned business, we always look to offer more insight and value than other R&D providers. We aim to provide a timely and reactive SAME DAY approach to our client relationships. And, as Chartered Tax Advisers we know a thing or two about tax, so you are in safe hands.
We also always ensure you maximise other tax reliefs you are entitled to, rather than only thinking about R&D tax credits and your claim for R&D relief in isolation. So don't delay and start your claim today.
We do not do arm's length client work. Our methodology to our R&D work is simple. We meet you in person and if you have R&D we will find it. Like a reliable old dog we work to sniff out every opportunity we can, trying to look at a problem from as many perspectives as we can to ensure we do the best we possibly can for our clients.
So don't delay, email your R&D Tax Consultant Specialist James Doggett FCCA CTA today to discuss your needs:
Symbiotic Tax Consulting (R&D Specialists) Limited