Claiming Research and Development (R&D) tax relief
Information on the different types of relief for companies that work on R&D, how to find out if you can claim and what to do before you make a claim.
Research and Development (R&D) tax reliefs support UK companies working on innovative projects in science and technology.
To claim R&D tax reliefs, your project must meet certain criteria and your business type and accounting period will affect what type of relief you can claim.
Follow the recommended steps to find out if your project is eligible and what you need to do.
You may have to pay a penalty if you make an ineligible claim.
Step 1 – Find out if you can claim
Find out if your work qualifies as R&D and the different reliefs your company could claim.
Claims which are rarely eligible include those made by:
- care homes
- childcare providers
- personal trainers
- wholesalers and retailers
- pubs
- restaurants
Further information
Step 2 – Check if your costs qualify
Find out which of your project costs qualify for the R&D relief you’re claiming.
Step 3 – Find out which relief you can claim
Find out which relief you should claim for, depending on the type of company you are and the accounting period you want to claim for.
The SME scheme is for accounting periods beginning before 1 April 2024.
The merged scheme is for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2024.
Step 4 – Check if you can apply for advance assurance
If you’re a small or medium enterprise and you haven’t claimed before you may be able to use the advance assurance scheme to confirm if your project is eligible for R&D tax relief.
You can use it as a guarantee that your R&D claim will be accepted if it’s in line with what was discussed and agreed in your application.
Step 5 – Tell HMRC that you want to apply for R&D relief
Check if you need to tell HMRC in advance that you plan to claim R&D relief. Find out what information you’ll need to provide and how to send a claim notification form.
Step 6 – Work out your R&D tax relief
Find out how to calculate how much you can claim.
Step 7 – Information we need before you claim
Find out what information you need to submit before you make your claim for R&D and how to do this.
Step 8 – Submit your claim for R&D tax relief
Find out how to submit your claim using your company tax return.
Updates to this page
Last updated 1 May 2024 + show all updates
-
An email has been added to contact HMRC for members of a tax or accountancy professional body to report a breach in standards relating to R&D.
-
New guidance on if your work qualifies as Research and Development for tax purposes, including examples, added to the ‘Find out if you can make a claim’ section.
-
The information about when you must submit an additional information form has been updated from 1 August 2023 to 8 August 2023.
-
A link to a Welsh version of the page has been added.
-
First published.