Could we claim research and development tax relief?
Answer four questions about the project and enter what it cost to see whether it looks like R&D, and what a claim is worth.
Your answer
Answer the project questions and enter the R&D costs, total costs and profit or loss.
About this calculator
For limited companies that develop new products, processes or software, for years starting on or after 1 April 2024. It gives a rough view of whether the work counts and an estimate of what a claim is worth.
What happens to your answers
We don’t keep them. Your answers go to our server to do the sums and aren’t stored or logged. If you copy a link to your answers, they’re in the link itself, so only share it with people you trust.
How it’s worked out
R&D for tax means a project that tries to advance science or technology, where it was uncertain at the start whether or how it could be done, and an expert in the field couldn't readily work it out.
Most companies claim through the merged scheme: a credit of 20% of the qualifying costs. The credit is taxed, so after Corporation Tax it's worth about 15% of the costs (16.2% for a loss-maker, paid in cash). It pays your Corporation Tax first, and any rest is paid out.
A loss-making small or medium-sized company that spends 30% or more of its costs on R&D can choose enhanced R&D intensive support (ERIS) instead: up to 14.5% of the loss for cash, worth up to about 27% of the costs. It gives up the loss in return.
First-time claimants must tell HMRC within 6 months of the year end. Every claim needs the additional information form before the tax return, and the claim must be in by 2 years after the year end.
Worked example
Your project looks like R&D for tax, and a claim could be worth about £28,500 off your Corporation Tax.
12 months to 31 March 2027 · no connected companies · subcontractors unconnected and in the UK · PAYE cap not applied
| Year 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 | |
|---|---|
| Staff costs on R&D | £150,000 |
| Subcontractors and agency workers: 65% of £40,000 | £26,000 |
| Materials, software, data and cloud | £14,000 |
| Qualifying costs (qualifying R&D expenditure) | £190,000 |
| R&D intensity: £190,000 ÷ £800,000 total costs (30% or more for the loss-maker scheme) | 23.7% |
| Merged scheme credit: 20% of qualifying costs | £38,000 |
| Corporation Tax on £300,000 of profit, without a claim | £75,000 |
| Corporation Tax with the credit added to profit (£338,000) | £84,500 |
| Less tax on the credit | − £9,500 |
| Merged scheme benefit: £28,500 off the tax bill | £28,500 |
Worked out using HMRC's merged scheme and ERIS rules for years starting on or after 1 April 2024, and Corporation Tax rates for financial year 2026.
Questions people ask
Does software development count?
It can, if it advances what software can do in the field, not just your own product. Building an app or website with known tools usually doesn't; solving a technical problem nobody has solved yet might.
Can we claim for subcontractors?
Usually 65% of what you pay a UK firm that isn't connected to you, if you decided the R&D was needed. Work done abroad doesn't count unless it can only be done there; cost and finding staff aren't reasons.
What if we miss the 6-month deadline?
If you needed to tell HMRC and didn't, the claim for that year isn't valid. You can still claim for the next year if you tell HMRC in time.
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