Changes coming to R&D claims

The way in which R&D tax relief claims are submitted to HMRC is changing from 1 August 2023.

In an effort to crack down on perceived abuse of the generous R&D tax reliefs HMRC have introduced a digital ‘additional information’ form that must be completed to support a company’s R&D tax relief claim.

The digital additional information form will need to be completed regardless of a company’s accounting period where the R&D claim is not submitted to HMRC by 31 July 2023. If you do not comply with the new reporting requirements HMRC will still process the company’s tax return, but they will omit the R&D claim from the tax return.

The additional information form can be completed by either a representative of the company, or an agent acting on behalf of the company.

The form will require various information including the following:

• Contact details of the main senior internal R&D contact in the company who is responsible for the R&D claim, together with details of any agent involved in the R&D claim
• Business type, for example your current SIC code
• Project details for all projects if there were three or less projects in the year, or project details that cover at least 50% of the qualifying expenditure if there were more than three projects in the year
• Project details must include:
  • What was the main field of science or technology?
  • What was the baseline level of science or technology that the company planned to advance?
  • What advance in that scientific or technological knowledge did the company aim to achieve?
  • The scientific or technological uncertainties that the company faced?
  • How did your project seek to overcome these uncertainties?

For companies that have not been preparing robust R&D reports to support R&D claims in the past the new rules will impose a fairly significant administrative burden.

Need support with your company's R&D claim? Our R&D experts can help. Contact us James Thompson at james.thompson@hurst.co.uk to get started today.