R&D Corporation Tax Credit
Make the first pass before you call your tax adviser.
IRDG helps members understand the current landscape, learn through specialist clinics and prepare the technical, financial and timing questions a professional adviser will need.
Current rules
Get the accounting period and timing right first.
The 35% rate applies where the accounting period's specified return date is on or after 23 September 2027 — generally accounting periods ending 31 December 2026 or later. Earlier periods can be subject to 30% or 25%.
Claims are generally made within 12 months after the accounting-period end. For periods beginning on or after 1 January 2024, some first-time and returning claimants must notify Revenue at least 90 days before claiming. Confirm the position for your own accounting period with a suitably qualified adviser.
Three questions
What a serious adviser conversation examines.
Could the activity meet the current tests?
The company and its adviser need to consider whether the work is systematic, investigative or experimental; in science or technology; seeks an advancement; and addresses scientific or technological uncertainty.
Can you evidence the work and the costs?
Contemporaneous technical evidence and connected cost records matter. A narrative written at claim time is not a substitute for how the work was actually planned, tested and decided.
Have timing and filing been checked?
The accounting period, claim deadline, pre-filing notification, grants and other support all affect the conversation. Confirm them before relying on a timetable.
Evidence readiness
Do you have a usable trail of the work?
This is a preparation list, not a definitive Revenue evidence requirement and not a finding that the work qualifies.
- A defined project and a responsible technical owner.
- The starting point, or existing level of knowledge.
- The advancement being sought and the technical uncertainty encountered.
- Planned investigations, tests or experiments.
- Results, failures, iterations and technical decisions.
- Dates, people involved and a supportable basis for time allocation.
- Expenditure records linked to the relevant activities.
- Contractor, university or research-provider agreements.
- Records of grants or other public support.
- Accounting-period and return dates, claim history and any pre-filing question.
Deliberately no calculator
Turn the records into clear adviser questions.
A percentage is the easy part. The difficult work is establishing the activity, the connected expenditure, the accounting period, other support and the evidence trail.
This page does not estimate a claim. It helps a member prepare the information and the questions a suitably qualified adviser will need.
R&D Tax Credit clinics
Learn with specialists, in a room with peers.
No R&D Tax Credit clinics are listed just now.
IRDG runs tax-credit clinics and private expert sessions through the year. The events platform carries current dates and availability.
Preparing a conversation?
Tell us where you are and what you need to ask.
We can help you frame the technical narrative, identify what evidence is missing and prepare the questions for your adviser. We cannot tell you whether the work qualifies — that is your adviser's call.