With a commitment to become a global science and tech superpower, the Chancellor is both focusing more on innovation and tweaking existing R&D tax provisions in order to, you guessed it, "level up" the UK's innovation output. 

Two big announcements in the budget relating to changes to R&D tax relief included adding data costs and cloud computing to qualifying expenditure being entitled to the credit - certainly a welcome move not only to tech innovators but an acknowledgement that nowadays computing is vital to innovation in almost all areas.

Further, following ONS estimates that almost half of R&D expenditure that received the tax relief was being carried out outside the UK. To bring the UK more in line with other jurisdictions, from April 2023 only expenditure incurred in the UK itself will qualify for the relief. Currently any expenditure by UK companies on R&D including expenditure overseas can be eligible for full tax relief.