What qualifies as Research and Development in 2023?
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HMRC Compliance Guidelines for R&D Tax Credits in 2023?
On October 31st 2023, HMRC released new guidance to help R&D tax credit claimants identify if their work qualifies as research and development for tax purposes.
These new set of guidelines are for companies that can claim additional deductions and credits for research and development expenditures.
HMRC has broken the R&D compliance guidelines down into six sections:
These new Guidelines for Compliance (GfC) are examples to help R&D tax credit claimants understand the general principles that apply to all R&D tax credit claims but are not the law. The current guidelines remain the law and should always be followed.
How can I avoid common mistakes with my R&D claim?
The latest guidelines from HMRC aim to help you avoid common mistakes in R&D claims by aiding you to:
understand HMRC expectations of claimants
identify who is a competent professional, be able to judge if a project is seeking an advance in science or technology for the purposes of an R&D claim
find out if your work qualifies as R&D for tax purposes
understand the meaning of ‘scientific or technological advance’ for the purposes of R&D claims
identify the scientific or technological uncertainty that the project is seeking to resolve
decide where the project begins and ends for the purposes of an R&D claim
understand the evidence of a qualifying project HMRC may expect to see if we check your claim
The latest guidance is there to help you make a correct claim and avoid the penalty HMRC charges if carelessness leads to an inaccurately high claim. It is your responsibility to make sure that your claim is correct, even if you use a tax advisor.
Source gov.uk
