R&D tax credits

We prepare and file R&D tax relief claims end to end: the claim notification, the technical narrative, the qualifying cost schedules, the additional information form and HMRC's questions afterwards. Claims are led by Vicky Bryen, Senior Manager. Correct as at 17 August 2026.

Is your work R&D for tax purposes?

The test is not whether you have a laboratory. A project qualifies where it seeks an advance in science or technology and has to resolve scientific or technological uncertainty to get there (gov.uk, R&D tax relief guidance). In practice that reaches software development, engineering, manufacturing processes and product formulation, and it covers work that failed as well as work that succeeded. The uncertainty has to be real: if a competent professional in the field could readily deduce the answer, the project does not qualify, and we say so before a claim is started.

What is a claim worth in 2026/27?

For accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2024, most companies claim under the merged scheme: an expenditure credit of 20% of qualifying R&D spend, which is itself taxable as trading income (gov.uk, the merged scheme and enhanced R&D intensive support). As a worked example, £100,000 of qualifying spend generates a £20,000 credit, worth £15,000 after Corporation Tax at the 25% main rate, or £16,200 at the 19% small profits rate (FY2026 rates, gov.uk). Loss-making, R&D-intensive SMEs, where qualifying R&D is at least 30% of total expenditure, can instead claim enhanced R&D intensive support: an extra 86% deduction on qualifying costs and a payable credit of up to 14.5% of the surrenderable loss, which can be worth up to £26,970 in cash on the same £100,000 of spend.

The deadline that invalidates claims

If your company is claiming for the first time, or has not claimed in the last 3 years, HMRC must be sent a claim notification form, and the window closes 6 months after the end of the period of account. Miss it and the claim is invalid, however good the underlying project (gov.uk, tell HMRC that you're planning to claim R&D tax relief). Every claim also needs the online additional information form filed at the time the claim is made, or HMRC removes the claim from the return. If your year end has recently passed and you have never claimed, check the notification position before anything else: that conversation costs nothing and protects the claim.

How we prepare a claim

We scope first: whether the projects meet the definition, which scheme applies, and whether the contracted-out R&D rules put the claim with you or with the party you worked for. Then we build the claim properly: a technical narrative written with your engineers rather than about them, cost schedules covering staff, software, consumables and subcontracted work within the rules, the notification and additional information form filed on time, and the claim entered in the Company Tax Return. If HMRC asks questions afterwards, we answer them; the file is built expecting that.

Why claims need doing carefully

HMRC has tightened the regime: every claim now requires the additional information form, first-time claimants face the notification rule, and claims that do not hold up invite enquiries that reach the rest of the company's tax affairs. A claim built on evidence, filed with the right forms at the right times, is worth more than an aggressive one. That is the standard we work to as ICAEW Chartered Accountants.

Who leads R&D claims?

R&D claims are led by Vicky Bryen, Senior Manager, whose work covers R&D tax credits and film and media reliefs, with the wider team preparing the cost schedules. Vision Consulting is a London firm of ICAEW Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors, established in 2002.

Call 020 8554 2135 or email info@visionconsulting.co.uk with your year end date and a line about the projects. First conversations are confidential and at no cost.

Frequently asked questions

This is general information, not advice. Your position depends on your circumstances. Speak to us before acting.