Currently, there is no requirement to provide supporting documentation when making a claim for R&D tax relief – it is advisable to do so though.  New legislation coming in 2023 may make supporting documentation mandatory.

HMRC have an online portal for providing project information in support of an R&D claim, but many companies find it easier to create a document which can be attached to the company’s Corporation Tax Return.

We have created hundreds of reports illustrating how a company meets the criteria for R&D tax relief and have a standard format for this, but any format is acceptable as long as it details how the company’s activities meet the criteria for R&D tax relief and what costs have been included in the claim.

Is software available to do this?

Sort of.  As with any task, software can be really useful in gathering data, ensuring tasks are tracked and automating repetitive tasks.  This makes the process of compiling a claim easier but cannot be relied upon entirely.

Currently there is no software available that can produce a robust R&D claim without a great deal of manual intervention throughout the process.

The most important part of an R&D claim is understanding what qualifies for R&D tax relief and this is not something that is easily explained by a piece of software.   Once project information is input into the software, the software cannot assess whether the project actually qualifies for R&D tax relief – it can produce a report based on the information but whether that information will stand up to HMRC scrutiny is not reviewed by the software.

If you have any questions on this blog or anything R&D related, please contact us at [email protected].

Posted: 28 Apr 2022