PwC has been recognized for Product Innovation in the World Business Awards 2015.

The Research and Development (R&D) Tax Incentive has been around in several forms for nearly 30 years. However, due to complexities, many businesses don’t know how to apply for it. PwC discovered that a need for an automatic claim process was required for R&D, especially for small businesses who do not have time or the money to dedicate to this claim.

In response to this PwC developed Nifty R&D, a cloud-based application allowing small businesses and start-ups to claim the R&D tax in about a day, compared to the traditional processing time of six weeks.

To draw attention to the service, PwC decided to deliver Nifty at half the cost compared to the rest of the company’s services. By cutting out the complex tasks of lodging claims, back-and-forth phone calls, negotiations, meetings and all the rest, PwC’s Nifty R&D service reduces the process to completing an online form, submitting it and then waiting. The R&D Tax Incentive program has 14,000 claimants and Nifty R&D has a target of achieving a 10% market share by next year.