Submit detailed information beforeto yousupport your claim Researchfor andR&D DevelopmentCorporation (R&D)Tax tax reliefreliefs

When you must submit

FromYou 8 August 2023 you must complete and submit an additional information form to HMRC to support allnew your claims for Research and Development (R&D) tax reliefrelief, expenditure credit or both.

You need to complete an additional information form for each accounting period.

If you have a long period of account, you will need to submit:

• an additional information form for the 12-month accounting period
• a further additional information form for the following short accounting period

The additional information form for each accounting period should only include information relevant to that accounting period.

If an accounting period includes claims for R&D tax relief and R&D expenditure credit.credit (RDEC), the requirements listed in the ‘What information you will need’ section apply to each claim separately, not to the accounting period as a whole.

You will need to send us anthe additional information form either before or on the same day you submit your company’sCompany Corporation Tax Return.

If you do not dosubmit this,an weadditional information form, any R&D or RDEC claim will not be valid. We will write to you to confirm that we’vewe removedwill remove your claim for R&D tax relief from your Company Tax Return. If this happens close to the last date for amending the return, you may not be able to make a valid R&D claim for that accounting period.

Who can submit

You can complete the additional information form if you’re:

• a representative of the company
• an agent acting on behalf of the companycompany, using an agent services account

If you’re an agent acting on behalf of a company you must be authorised as the Corporation Tax agent using Online Agent Authorisation before you can submit an additional information form.

Find out about using Online Agent Authorisation.

What information you will need

To complete the additional information form you will need the following details.

Company details

Your company’s:

• Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR),(UTR), this must match the one shown in your Company Tax Return
• employer PAYE reference number
• VAT registration number
• business type, for example your current SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) code

Contact details

The contact details of:

• the main senior internal R&D contact in the company who is responsible for the R&D claim, for example a company director
• any agent involved in the R&D claim

‘Any agent involved in the R&D claim’ includes:

• all agents who have provided advice in relation to any part of the R&D claim
• agents who have helped prepare all or parts of the claim, through technical assessment, or analysing costs
• agents who are involved in the making of the claim, including by providing information for or completing the online forms and the filing of the Company Tax Return

Accounting period start and end date

The accounting period start and end date for which you’re claiming the tax relief,relief. thisThis must match the onedates shown in your Company Tax Return.

Qualifying expenditure details

Include details of the qualifying expenditure — check the work qualifies for R&D tax relief.

If you meet the conditions, youin canthe claimCompany forTax eitherReturn oryou both:can claim for:

• tax relief as a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)
• expenditure credit as a large company or SME

If you’re claiming for SME tax relief, you canmay be able to claim for:

• cloud computing costs, including storage, for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2023
• consumable items, forthis examplecould include materials, water, fuel and power
• data licence costs, for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2023
• externally provided workers
• payments to participants of a clinical trial
• software
• staff
• subcontractor costs

If you’re claiming for expenditure credit, you may be able to claim for:

• cloud computing costs, including storage, for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2023
• consumable items, forthis examplecould include materials, water, fuel and power
• contributions to independent R&D costs
• data licence costs, for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2023
• externally provided workers
• payments to participants of a clinical trial
• software
• staff
• some subcontractor costs

If you’re claiming SME tax relief and expenditure credit, you’ll need to provide details of the qualifying expenditure for your tax relief and expenditure credit claims separately. 

You must answer the PAYE cap questions for all SME claims relating to accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2021.

Only companies with an accounting period starting on or after 1 April 2023 have the option of submitting:

• the number of externally provided workers that have been involved in projects
• the employer’s PAYE references for all externally provided workers

This does not prevent companies from claiming costs for externally provided workers in accounting periods that started before 1 April 2023.

Qualifying indirect activities

These are activities which form part of a project but do not directly contribute to the resolution of the scientific or technological uncertainty.

OnlyYou includecan claim for the types of qualifying expenditure detailed in the section ‘Qualifying expenditure details’, if itthey waswere incurred on the following qualifying indirect activities:

• scientific and technical information services, insofarwhich as they are conducted for the purpose of R&D support, such as the preparation of the original report of R&D findings
• indirect supporting activities such as maintenance, security, administration and clerical activities, finance and personnel activities, insofarwhich asare undertaken for R&D
• ancillary activities essential to the undertaking of R&D, for example,example taking on and paying staff, leasing laboratories and maintaining R&D equipment including computers used for R&D purposes
• training required to directly support an R&D project
• research by students and researchers carried out at universities
• research (including related data collection) to devise new scientific or technological testing, a survey or sampling methods, where this research is not R&D in its own right
• feasibility studies to inform the strategic direction of a specific R&D activity

Project details

TheYou numberneed ofto allgive us details of the projects that you’re claiming for in the accounting periodperiod. andThe theirdetails details.you need to give us depends on the number of projects that you’re claiming for.

If you’re claiming:

• claiming for 1 to 3 projects, you need to describe all the projects you’re claiming for that cover 100% of the qualifying expenditure
• expenditure.

  If you’re claiming for 4 toprojects 10or projects,more, you need to describe thosethe lower of the following:

  • the number of projects that account for ata leastminimum of 50% of the totalqualifying expenditure, withbut you must describe a minimum of 3 projects described
  • for10 11projects

  If tothe 100qualifying (orexpenditure more)is split across multiple smaller projects, youdescribe needthe 10 with the most qualifying expenditure (the form will allow you to describeinclude thosemore projects thatif accountyou forneed atto).

  If leastyou’re 50%claiming both SME tax relief and expenditure credit, you’ll need to provide separately:

  • details of the totalrequired expenditure,number withof aprojects minimumbased on the qualifying expenditure for your tax relief claim
  • details of 3the projectsrequired describednumber —of ifprojects based on the qualifying expenditure isfor splityour acrossexpenditure multiplecredit smallerclaim

  For projects,example, describeif theyou 10have with8 SME projects and 2 RDEC projects then you will need to provide:

  • project details for SME projects accounting for at least 50% of the mosttotal qualifying expenditure for SME relief, with a minimum of 3 projects described
  • project details for both projects for which you are claiming RDEC relief

  If you’re a Large Business Directorate customer

  For information on how HMRC deals with expenditure credit claims for largeLarge businessBusiness customers, read CIRD85100HMRC Largeinternal Businessmanual Practice Notes in the Corporate Intangibles Research and Development ManualCIRD80370.

  If you have any questions relating to the additional information form, you can contact the Large Business Directorate using the relevant contactuscontact us email address, copying in your Customer Compliance Manager (CCM).(CCM).

  In addition, you can send us further supporting details about your R&D projects in a separate R&D report, youthis can include for example:include:

  • the claim methodology
  • use of sampling
  • details of the competent professionals

  You can submit the separate R&D report either:

  • by email, using one of the contactuscontact us email addresses — copying in your Customer Compliance Manager
  • online, when you complete your Company Tax Return

  Give a description for each of the projects

  1. What is the main field of science or technology

  Provide a brief description of the field of science or technology that the project relates to.

  The following terminology will help you complete the description.

  Science is the systematic study of the nature and behaviour of the physical and material universe.

  Work in the arts, humanities and social sciences, including economics, is not science for this purpose.

  From 1 April 2023 mathematical advances in themselves are treated as science for these purposes, whether or not they are advances in representing the nature and behaviour of the physical and material universe.

  Technology is the practical application of scientific principles or knowledge.

  2. What was the baseline level of science or technology that the company planned to advance

  Describe the level of knowledge or capability that existed at the time the project started and which the company intended to advance, for example if the intention was to:

  • improve an existing material or device, describe what were its existing features and capabilities were
  • develop new knowledge in a particular area of science or technology, describe what was already known

  3. What advance in that scientific or technological knowledge did the company aim to achieve

  Provide a description of the advance using the baseline level of science or technology in the previous answer as a comparison.

  The following information will help you complete the description.

  An advance in knowledge or capability in science or technology may have physical consequences or may be an increase in overall knowledge, but in either case, a competent professional working in that field would recognise it as an appreciable improvement.

  The improvements may include:

  • creating a process, material, device, product or service that increases overall knowledge or capability in a field of science or technology
  • appreciably improving an existing process, material, device, product or service, for example to save costs or reduce waste (this refers to genuine non-trivial improvements which result in more than a minor or routine upgrade)
  • using science or technology to copy the effect of a current process, material, device, product or service in a new or improved way

  4. The scientific or technological uncertainties that the company faced

  You must include only scientific or technological uncertainties, for example, the company:

  • does not know if it is possible to create or improve the product or process
  • cannot readily deduce how to create or improve the product or process, for example you tried to build a medical diagnostic tool combining non-invasive testing technology, artificial intelligence (AI)(AI) and portability, but you’re not sure about the method to do this

  Your description of the uncertainties should explain:

  • what is stopping you from achieving the advance in scientific or technological knowledge (a problem is not an uncertainty if it can be resolved in a discussion with peers)
  • why is it a technological or scientific uncertainty for the industry, not just your company
  • if a competent professional working in the field would be uncertain as to how to achieve the advance, and explain why

  5. How did your project seek to overcome these uncertainties

  Provide more details about the direct R&D activities that try to resolve the scientific or technological uncertainties, as well as qualifying indirect activities.

  Describe the information in sufficient detail to tell us:

  • how the R&D project was not straightforward
  • the methods planned or used to overcome the uncertainty
  • if the uncertainties were resolved, if yes how, and if no why not

  Activities which directly contribute to R&D may include:

  • creating or adapting software, materials or equipment needed to resolve the uncertainty
  • planning activities such as a detailed plan of how you will carry out the project
  • designing, testing and analysis to resolve the scientific or technological uncertainty

  Include the qualifying expenditure for each project for indirect activities that do not directly lead to resolving the uncertainty, a list of what may be included can be found in the section qualifying‘qualifying indirect activities.activities’.

  6. Which tax relief you’re claiming for and the amount

  Tell us what you’re claiming for, for example R&D tax relief, expenditure credit, or both, and what amount of the qualifying expenditure applies to each specific project.

  Submit your form

  Online services may be slow during busy times. Check if there are any problems with this service.

  You can submit the form if you’re:

  • a representative of the company — you will need the Government Gateway user ID and password you used when you registered for Corporation Tax, if you do not have a user ID, you can create one the first time you sign in
  • an agent — you will need the Government Gateway user ID and password you used when you registered for the agent services account, if you do not have a user ID, you can create one the first time you sign in

  You will not be able to access the form once it’s been submitted, so save a copy before you do.submit it.

  If you do not have a Government Gateway account, make sure you register for one in good time to receive the details you need to submit your additional information form.

  Each company in the group needs its own Government Gateway account to submit an additional form. You cannot use a ‘Group Tax Manager’ account.

  Start now

  You will then get an email to confirm that we’ve received the form. This email will contain a reference number.

  Keep a note of this reference number so that:

  • you can discuss your additional information form with HMRC
  • if we need to, we can check that you’ve submitted your additional information form

  How to claim

  If you decide to continue with your claim:

  • check if you need to tell HMRC that you’re planning to claim Research and Development (R&D) tax relief for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2023
  • and if you do need to submit a claim notification form, put an ‘X’ in box 656 of the Company Tax Return CT600 to tell us that you have submitted it
  • put an ‘X’ in box 657 of the Company Tax Return CT600 to tell us that you’ve submitted the additional information form
  • complete the computations for the relevant accounting period
  • complete and send us the supplementary form CT600L if you’re claiming payable credit or expenditure credit

  Read more information on how to complete the Company Tax Return.

  We are aware of a problem with completing boxes 655 and 657 on form CT600. Changes and issues affecting the Corporation Tax online service explains what action you should take while we resolve this problem.