Research and Development (R&D) Tax Relief Changes from 1 April 2023

22/04/2023 - 9 minutes read
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R&D tax relief changes from 1 April 2023 stipulate that you must tell HMRC if you plan to claim Research and Development (R&D) tax relief or expenditure credit for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2023 if:

  • – you’re claiming for the first time
  • – you’ve claimed for the previous tax year, but you did not submit that claim until after the last date of the claim notification period (the claim notification period ends 6 months after the end of the period of account)
  • – your last claim was made more than 3 years before the last date of the claim notification period

As per the R&D tax relief changes from 1 April 2023, you will need to complete and submit the claim notification form.

If you’ve not notified HMRC when you’re required to, and you’ve already submitted your company’s Corporation Tax Return, HMRC will write to you to confirm that they have removed your claim for R&D tax relief from your Company Tax Return.

If you’ve previously claimed using the paper Company Tax Return, you should submit a claim notification form to avoid any queries or delays when HMRC process your claim.

R&D tax relief changes from 1 April 2023

R&D tax relief changes from 1 April 2023

R&D tax relief changes – Notification deadline

The latest date you must submit the claim notification form is 6 months after the end of the period of account the claim relates to.

As per R&D tax relief changes from 1 April 2023, if you do not submit it by this deadline, your claim will not be valid.

These examples will show you when you must submit the claim notification form when you incur R&D costs in either one or 2 accounting periods.

Example 1 – when to submit for a 12-month period of account (one accounting period)

If the period of account in which you incur R&D costs runs from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024:

  • – the first day of the accounting period is 1 January 2024
  • – the end date of the accounting period is 31 December 2024
  • – submit the claim notification form between 1 January 2024 and 30 June 2025

Example 2 – when to submit for a 15-month period of account (2 accounting periods)

If the period of account in which you incur R&D costs runs from 1 January 2024 to 31 March 2025:

  • – the start date of the first accounting period is 1 January 2024, and the end date is 31 December 2024
  • – the start date of the second accounting period is 1 January 2025, and the end date is 31 March 2025
  • – submit the claim notification form between 1 January 2024 and 30 September 2025

R&D tax relief changes – Who can submit the notification?

You can complete and submit the claim notification form to comply with the R&D tax relief changes from 1 April 2023 if you’re:

  • – a representative of the company
  • – an agent acting on behalf of the company

What information you will need

To complete the claim notification under the R&D tax relief changes from 1 April 2023 you will need the following details:

  • – the company’s Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), this must match the one shown in your Company Tax Return
  • – the main senior internal R&D contact in the company who is responsible for the R&D claim, for example, a company director
  • – the contact details of any agent involved in the R&D claim
  • – the accounting period start and end date for which you’re claiming the tax relief or expenditure credit – this must match the one shown in your Company Tax Return
  • – the period of account start and end date
  • – a summary of the high-level planned activities, for example, if you’ve developed software what it will be used for to show that the project meets the standard definition of R&D — you do not need to include evidence on the form, but you will need to provide further information on the additional information form

R&D tax relief changes if you’re a large business customer

For information on how HMRC deals with expenditure credit claims for large business customers, read CIRD85100 Large Business Practice Notes in the Corporate Intangibles Research and Development Manual.

If you have any questions relating to the claim notification form, you can contact the large business directorate using the relevant contact email address, copying in your Customer Compliance Manager (CCM).

Submitting your form

You will need to submit using one of the following:

  • – a Government Gateway user ID and password, if you do not have a user ID, you can create one the first time you sign in
  • – an email address

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

Start now

You will then get an email to confirm that HMRC has received the form – this email will contain a reference number.

Keep a note of this reference number so that:

  • – you can discuss your claim notification form with HMRC
  • – if we need to, we can check that you’ve submitted your claim notification form

You do not need to do anything further if you decide not to continue with your claim.

R&D tax relief – How to claim

If you decide to continue with your claim:

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

Further Changes from 1 August 2023

From 1 August 2023, you must submit an additional information form to support all your claims for R&D tax relief or expenditure credit.

If you do not submit the additional information form, HMRC will not be able to process your claim.

You can submit the additional information form before 1 August 2023 if you want to give us more information, put an ‘X’ in box 657 of your Company Tax Return to tell us that you’ve submitted it.

Read the guidance which tells you how to send the additional information form and what you will need to provide.

How can MCL Accountants help?

Contact MCL Accountants on 01702 593 029 if you would like further information about R&D tax relief changes from 1 April 2023 or if you need any assistance with the preparation and submission of your business accounts or self-assessment tax returns to HMRC.