Patent Box

What it is

Not a grant — the Patent Box is a Corporation Tax relief: companies earning profits from patented inventions they own or have exclusively licensed pay a reduced 10% Corporation Tax rate on those profits instead of the main rate. Claimed by electing in within 2 years of the end of the relevant accounting period; the value depends entirely on your patent profits.

Verified 2026-08-21 on gov.uk (guidance page live; last updated 7 May 2020): reduced rate is 10%; company must be liable to Corporation Tax, make a profit from exploiting patented inventions, own or have exclusively licensed-in the patents, and have undertaken qualifying development on them; qualifying patents are granted by the UK IPO, the EPO or specified EEA states; election must be made 'within 2 years after the end of the accounting period in which the relevant profits and income arose'. No cash award — capture recorded as fixed/0 because relief value is a function of patent profits (no fixed amount exists). Patent ownership/exclusive licence and qualifying development are not expressible in engine fields — treat the rnd activity match as a proxy only; claims run through the CT600 with profit-streaming calculations, best handled with an accountant.