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R&D tax relief, claimed the way HMRC now expects

The merged scheme replaced the old SME and RDEC regimes for accounting periods starting on or after 1 April 2024. Claims now need a defensible technical narrative and the right forms filed alongside the return, not just a spreadsheet of costs.

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The claim clock4 deadlines

Notify intent to claim6 months from period end

Additional Information FormBefore CT600

Claim window2 years from period end

R&D intensive test≥30% of spend

Miss the notification and the right to claim is gone before the work even starts — confirm it before anything else.

Where this bites

Most claims fail on process, not eligibility

HMRC’s compliance checks have increased sharply since the merged scheme began. The projects are usually genuine — the paperwork around them is what falls short.

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The notification is a hard cut-offMiss the 6-month window and the claim right is lost, whatever the eligible spend

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The credit is taxable incomeThe merged scheme pays a credit above the line, then taxes it — the net benefit is lower than the headline rate

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The intensity test moves every yearWhether a loss-making SME qualifies for the enhanced rate is recalculated on every claim, not fixed once

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HMRC now reads the narrative closelyGeneric project descriptions are the single most common reason a claim gets opened for review

What’s included

Eligibility, evidence and the filing, in one engagement

A claim stands or falls on the same things every time: is the spend qualifying, is the project genuinely uncertain, and is that written down in terms HMRC accepts.

Scheme and eligibility review

Merged scheme or R&D-intensive support (ERIS), checked against your accounting period.

Qualifying cost identification

Staff time, consumables, software, data and cloud costs, and subcontracted or externally provided workers.

Technical narrative, written with your team

Drafted from a conversation with the people who did the work, in the language HMRC’s guidelines expect.

Additional Information Form

Completed and filed — a claim without it is automatically invalid.

CT600L and CT600 preparation

The claim built into the return itself, not bolted on afterwards.

Notification of intent to claim

Filed within six months of the period end where the rules require it.

The notification deadline runs even if you have claimed before.
If it has been more than three years since your last claim, or you have never claimed, the six-month notification window applies again from a standing start. Businesses that assume they are already “in the system” are the ones who miss it.

How it works

Five steps from first conversation to filed claim

01

Confirm the notification is in dateChecked first, since a missed deadline ends the claim before anything else matters

02

Identify qualifying projects and costsWorking through what was attempted, not just what was spent

03

Draft the technical narrative with your teamShort interviews with whoever led the work, turned into the write-up HMRC will read

04

File the AIF and CT600L with the returnSubmitted together, so the claim and the return are never out of step

05

Next period’s notification diarisedSo the six-month clock never catches you out a second time

Fees

Priced against the claim, not the outcome

Fees are scoped from the size and complexity of the claim — number of projects, cost categories and prior claim history — and fixed before we start. We do not charge a percentage of the credit.

How our pricing works →

RegulatedACCA / CIOT

FocusUK compliance

DeliveryRemote, by design

FeesFixed, up front

BillingNever hourly

Next step

Tell us about the project.

A short conversation about what you built and when your last claim was, if any. We come back with whether the notification window is still open and a fixed price to take it from there.

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