We are sharing this update from ACCA, our professional body, for the interest of clients and contacts. The content is (c) ACCA
Almost half of claims submitted under the new rules are omitting the mandatory form and will be automatically rejected
HMRC introduced new rules for making claims for Research & Development (R&D) relief in April 2023; this includes claims for both the SME R&D relief and for RDEC.
These rules include:
- the requirement for APs beginning on or after 1 April 2023 for some claimants to submit a Claim Notification
- the requirement for all claimants to complete an Additional Information Form (AIF) for all claims from 8 August 2023.
We have been in contact with HMRC about how their systems are now working to match CT600 returns with the AIFs they have been receiving since 8 August.
A large number of CT returns received since 8 August containing a claim to R&D relief have been properly submitted together with an AIF.
However, almost half of the claims received between 8 August and 3 September did not have an accompanying AIF, which means they are invalid.
If you submitted a claim on or after 8 August without also completing an AIF, you’ll shortly receive one of the attached letters explaining that your claim for R&D relief is invalid and that your CT return has been corrected to remove the claim.
Provided you’re in time to amend your return, you can still make a valid claim by amending your return to add your R&D claim back in and completing an AIF at the same time.
You should note that the requirement for an AIF applies to all claims made on or after 8 August, irrespective of the accounting period the claim relates to.
You can find the guidance relating to R&D on the GOV.UK pages ‘Research and Development tax relief’ and ‘Claiming R&D tax reliefs’.