KPMG has strengthened the depth and range of its tax team specialising in Innovation Reliefs and Incentives (“IRI”) with the appointments of five new staff across Scotland.

The move comes as the professional services firm looks to increase the range of specialist R & D Tax and associated tax advice it provides to businesses in Scotland.

The new additions will be responsible for helping ensure businesses currently engaging in research and development are aware of the appropriate tax reliefs and incentives available to them from the government.

This will in turn encourage them to continue to invest in researching and developing new products and services to take to market.

Heading up the team is Sandra Gilchrist, who has been appointed Associate Partner for IRI.

She will join the firm’s Glasgow office but will operate Scotland-wide.

As a Chartered Tax Advisor, Sandra has specialised in R&D for the last 10 years and has a track record of delivering R&D Tax advice for clients in a range of industries including financial services, manufacturing, oil and gas and technology, media and telecommunications (TMT).

Sandra is joined by Neil Muir who has been appointed as Senior Manager to the IRI team.

Neil has more than five years’ experience in helping companies secure assistance for innovation and has worked extensively in a manufacturing environment. His client base covers a broad range of energy and utilities, oil and gas, technology, manufacturing and engineering clients

Together with the additional appointments of Mari McCrossan and Natalie MacFadyen as assistant managers in Aberdeen and Peter Eyles as assistant manager in Edinburgh, the team of ten* has more than 40 years’ of R&D experience in total.

Craig Anderson, senior partner for KPMG in Scotland, said: “Regardless of industry or sector, the vast majority of businesses in Scotland undertake some form of research and innovation. However, many of those companies are unaware the work that they do could qualify for the extremely valuable tax reliefs made available by the government.

“The latest additions to the IRI team are here to help those businesses identify the full extent of R & D and Patent Box tax reliefs available, so that they can maximise the benefits as they continue to innovate and drive forward with development.”