The latest Finance Act includes two changes that will affect all R&D claims:

(1) A requirement to provide additional information before an R&D claim is made; and

(2) A requirement for certain companies to make a claim notification within six months after the end of the accounting period for which they want to claim R&D relief.

When a limited company intends to make a claim for research and development (R&D) tax relief, from 8 August 2023 onwards it will need to provide detailed information to HMRC in advance. We can assist you in preparing the notification or prepare it on your behalf.

You will need to set out details of the R&D project(s) undertaken, including, in particular, the scientific or technical uncertainty that the work was seeking to overcome, along with details of the work done to resolve that uncertainty.

For accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2023, there is also a new R&D claim notification form which must be submitted within the ‘claim notification period’, which ends six months after the end of the accounting period for which the company wants to claim R&D relief.

Broadly, new claimants or those who haven’t claimed for three years will need to complete this claim notification form for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2023.