Pharmaceutical Industry
and Healthcare

Specialist advice for pharmaceutical companies,
healthcare providers and life sciences businesses

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The pharmaceutical industry and healthcare operate under their own unique commercial and regulatory framework, which demands specialist tax, accounting and audit support.

The R&D-intensive cost structure, the long product development cycles, the regulatory framework of the MHRA and the wider international regulators and the specific tax position of healthcare providers all create an environment that requires a higher level of professional support.

Our pharma and healthcare team works with pharmaceutical companies, biotech businesses, medical device manufacturers, contract research organisations, private healthcare providers, dental practices, care home operators and the wider life sciences sector.

We provide audit, tax, R&D advisory, corporate finance and the substantive advisory work that the sector requires.

Each part of the sector has its own technical and commercial framework and our team is set up to support them.

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How we deliver
pharmaceutical and healthcare advice

Every business within the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors is unique. The science, the regulatory pathway, the funding history, the commercial model and the international footprint all need to be understood before support or advice can be provided.

Our team takes the time to understand each part of your operations so that we can provide effective advice.

We handle you R&D tax relief claims annually, audit and accounts throughout the year, transfer pricing for international groups, EMI scheme administration and corporate finance support at funding – all delivered by an experienced team as the business requires them.

Our expertise

  • Audits of pharmaceutical and life sciences businesses
  • R&D tax credits for pharmaceutical and biotech development
  • Patent Box claims
  • Capital allowances on R&D facilities
  • EMI scheme design for biotech and life sciences
  • Corporate finance support through funding rounds
  • International tax structuring and transfer pricing
  • Audit and tax for private healthcare providers and care homes
  • VAT for healthcare, including the partial exemption position
  • Dental and medical practitioner personal tax

What you can expect from
our pharma and healthcare team

Three things define how we work in the sector:

Commercial fluency

The people advising you understand the development cycle, the regulatory pathway and the commercial dynamics of the sector.

Technical depth across the relevant reliefs

R&D tax credits, Patent Box, capital allowances on research facilities, EMI for key research staff and the international tax position of multi-jurisdictional groups all need specialist input. Our team has the depth across each of these to provide guidance that adds value to your operations.

Continuity from early stage onwards

Many of our pharma and healthcare clients have worked with us from early stage through to substantial scale and eventual exit. The cumulative knowledge of the business across the years supports the work being done well at each stage.

Pharmaceutical and healthcare businesses work with us because they want an adviser who acts as a consistent guide through the complexity of the sector – one who understands the development cycle, brings genuine technical depth across the relevant reliefs and stays with the business as it grows.

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Here is what our clients have to say… testimonial icon


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Macalvins have been running the Payroll and Pension Plan for Hayes & Yeading United Football Club for over 10 years.… Read more

Bernard Bitmead

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I love the people of macalvins. they are warm and very dependable. and that what matters to me in any… Read more

SUJOY GHOSH

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I have been MaCalvins for the past 6 years and I have found them excellent in every department. They manage… Read more

John Gill

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I’ve been with MaCalvins since 2013, they are managing my company business accounts and my personal tax returns in a… Read more

Taghreed Altuhafi

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Excellent service and understanding of our business needs

Kanesh Rajani

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Thank you Macalvins for excellent service over the years

S Hodzic

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Why choose Macalvins?

Macalvins is a Top 100 UK accountancy firm and a member of PrimeGlobal, a network of around 300 independent firms across more than 80 countries.

That combination gives our clients in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors access to leading advice, which is based on an innate knowledge of their business.

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Frequently Asked Questions faq

Can you support our R&D claim across multiple years?

Yes. Pharmaceutical and biotech R&D is one of the cleaner fits for the R&D tax regime where the qualifying activity is properly identified and documented. Our R&D team works with life sciences clients on annual claims, the documentation supporting them and the response to any HMRC enquiry. The work is co-ordinated with the audit and corporate tax compliance.

Does Patent Box apply to our business?

Patent Box applies where the company holds qualifying IP and undertakes a qualifying development activity in relation to it. The relief is calculated by reference to the relevant IP profits and the streaming requirements need careful analysis. For many biotech and pharmaceutical businesses, Patent Box is a substantial and underclaimed relief. We will work through whether it applies to your specific position.

Can you handle the personal tax of medical and dental practitioners?

Yes. We act for a number of medical and dental practitioners on personal tax including the specific issues around NHS and private practice income, partnership taxation for practice partners, pension annual allowance and the McCloud remedy. The work fits within our wider personal tax practice with the sector-specific knowledge applied.

Mr. Jackson
@mrjackson