Reforms to the UK’s R&D tax relief scheme, introduced to stamp out widespread fraud and error, are suppressing the very innovation they were designed to protect, according to research by tax advisory firm RCK Partners. It found that more than 8 in 10 (82.1%) chief financial officers in agri-tech companies said changes to the R&D tax relief regime have led them to reduce investment in R&D. More than half (53.3%) stated they have delayed an R&D project as a direct consequence of the changes, compared with 29% of R&D-active SMEs overall. Taking in companies outside of agriculture, more than a third (35%) have hired fewer…