The latest 2017-18 figures show Scottish companies made a total of 2,210 claims, up from 1,900 made that this time last year.

There were 2,015 successful claims made by SMEs in Scotland and a further 195 secured by larger companies, amounting to £175m in R&D tax relief secured by businesses across the nation.

Overall, Scotland-based companies secured four per cent of the value of 48,635 R&D tax credit claims made across the UK in the 2017-18 period.

A total of £4.3bn of tax relief support was claimed in the period corresponding to £31.3bn of R&D expenditure by British businesses. The HMRC figures are based on partial data for the year with the total number set to increase further as more returns are received.

Scottish companies also secured £41m in rebates for Patent Box claims, another tax relief incentive available to help firms develop intellectual property (IP) assets. This accounts for five per cent of all UK Patent Box claims.

Overall, companies across the UK secured a total of £993m in Patent Box tax breaks in 2017-18.

This year’s R&D tax credit statistics show manufacturing companies along with those in ‘Professional, Scientific and Technical’, and ‘Information and Communication’ sectors continuing to have the greatest volume of claims.

The three categories account for a combined total of 68% of claims and 73% of the total amount claimed in 2017-18.

Scott Henderson, CEO of ABGI UK, said: “Businesses in Scotland continue to perform well in generating successful R&D tax relief claims with a significant rise compared to last year’s figures.

“The R&D tax credit scheme has a proven track record in delivering success, driving forward innovation and helping develop more world-class companies across the UK. Going forward we will continue to work with Scottish businesses to ensure they are securing maximum benefit when they invest in research and development.”

Since the launch of R&D tax credit schemes in 2000, over 300,000 claims have been made and £26.9bn in tax relief claimed.