R & D Project Info Capture -

Company Name

Email

Company Sector

To qualify for R&D tax relief, you have to demonstrate three key things about this work:

Yes, there was at least one technical goal as part of a commercial or research project.
Yes, there was at least one significant technological or scientific difficulty to overcome while trying to achieve this goal.
Yes, people with appropriate skills and experience worked towards overcoming the technological or scientific difficulties in the projects.

R&D Categories

We need you to tell us about the work that your company did in order to qualify for R&D tax relief. Please review the four categories below and select the appropiate statement for each.

a) Generating new technical knowledge, usually without using it within a practical application.

Companies in this area are often conducting ‘pure’ research, in which science is conducted for its own sake. Practical applications may be a long way off, or not even considered. This type of speculative research tends to take place within specialist units of large companies, trade associations that pool the resources of many member organisations, Government-funded research organisations and companies of all sizes collaborating with universities.

No, nothing at all like this was done.
Yes, a small amount of this type of work was carried out.
Yes, a moderate amount of this type of work was carried out.
Yes, a significant amount of this type of work was carried out.
Absolutely, lots of this type of work was done.

b) Taking something that may have started with ‘blue sky’ or pure research, and finding a practical application for it.

Companies in this area are involved in the early stage commercialisation of new technologies. Rather than concerning themselves with developing a sustainable business model around a new technology, they are more likely to be evaluating how that technology could be useful, or valuable, in a range of different applications or environments. This type of research tends to take place in companies that have their own R&D departments, or within small companies that have been spun out of larger entities with the specific purpose of turning new knowledge into a source of income. It may also take place within small SMEs that are supported by grants or other investment funding until they are able to validate the new technology by finding at least one practical application for it.

No, nothing at all like this was done.
Yes, a small amount of this type of work was carried out.
Yes, a moderate amount of this type of work was carried out.
Yes, a significant amount of this type of work was carried out.
Absolutely, lots of this type of work was done.

c) Taking something that already exists, and through technological changes, making it better in a measurable and objective way.

This is the most common type of claim for R&D tax relief, as most companies with their own design and/or manufacturing capability are likely to be involved in improving the performance of their products. These companies also tend to have the ability to diagnose and solve technical problems within their niche area of expertise. Claimants in this area already have established, revenue-generating products, but are typically striving to keep ahead of competitors, anticipate or comply with legislative changes, and meet shifting, emergent or anticipated demands from their customers.

No, nothing at all like this was done.
Yes, a small amount of this type of work was carried out.
Yes, a moderate amount of this type of work was carried out.
Yes, a significant amount of this type of work was carried out.
Absolutely, lots of this type of work was done.

d) Taking something that already exists, and finding a new and better way to achieve the same performance.

Another very common area in which companies make claims, this type of R&D often goes hand-in-hand with the preceding section. Work is often driven by cost or legislation – companies that are able to find new technical ways to do the same things are often rewarded by greater efficiencies, reduced costs of production, or being able to continue to operate in markets in which their competitors can’t. As before, claimants will tend to have in-house technical design, problem-solving and production capabilities.

No, nothing at all like this was done.
Yes, a small amount of this type of work was carried out.
Yes, a moderate amount of this type of work was carried out.
Yes, a significant amount of this type of work was carried out.
Absolutely, lots of this type of work was done.

Subcontractors

The rules around claiming R&D tax relief while acting as a subcontractor can be complex. The questions in this section will help to establish how much work your company did as a subcontractor, and whether it can claim for the costs of this work.

During the financial year(s) in question, did you work as a subcontractor to other companies?

No, we didn’t work as a subcontractor to other companies
Yes, we did work as a subcontractor to other companies, but no R&D was involved. All the work was routine.
Yes, we did work as a subcontractor to other companies, and some R&D was involved - either for its client, or on its own account.

Key Aspects of Projects

When presenting your company's claim to HMRC, it’s important to differentiate between the commercial and technical aspects of the projects. The next set of questions is designed to help HMRC understand the nature of the work undertaken during this claim period.

Commercial activity undertaken

Think about the work your company did within the financial period(s) in question. Please indicate up to four types of commercial activity undertaken during the claim period that underpinned the R&D.

Markets

Undertook work to understand target markets better
Segmented its markets
Repositioned its offering
Diversified into new markets

Competition

Caught up with the advances of competitors
Reverse-engineered competitors’ products

Scale

Expanded the number of sites
Increased production capacity at one or more sites
Achieved greater automation through machinery or software
Adapted technologies to achieve a greater performance

Processes

Improved business processes
Improved manufacturing processes
Reduced defects and re-work
Introduced more efficient equipment or machinery

Products

Developed one or more new products or services
Altered existing products or services to comply with new legislation
Altered existing products or services to include new knowledge or components
Improved one or more products in a measurable and objective way

Difficulties Encountered

HMRC also needs to know why the difficulties you faced during the claim period were challenging for its competent professionals.

Please check all of the reasons that apply:

The knowledge we needed was not easily accessible
The knowledge needed was a protected trade secret
Published knowledge (online or printed) was out of date or incomplete
There were conflicting views amongst experts
Data was lacking, incomplete or hard to interpret
Existing knowledge was purely theoretical, with no practical precedent
It was difficult to anticipate how different components or factors would interrelate
The outcome of changing many variables at the same time was complex and unpredictable
None of the above – all the required information was freely available

Technical Difficulties Encountered

The technical difficulties your company faced in its projects are key to demonstrating to HMRC that the claim is valid. The company doesn’t need to have overcome the issue, it just has to have been active in trying to diagnose and solve it. Please select up to 5 technical difficulties that your company faced during the claim period:

Software-related difficulties

Trying to find, diagnose and rectify race conditions
Trying to find, diagnose and rectify intermittent faults
Trying to overcome the constraints imposed by legacy systems and code to achieve more modern performance or behaviour
Trying to integrate technologies in ways that they were not designed for
Trying to develop new communications protocols where none existed
Trying to work with technologies with insufficient documentation
Trying to overcome system limitations, such as speed, scale, processing power, storage, latency or responsiveness, where it took time and careful thought to do so.
Trying to design algorithms that would deliver the required performance
Other

Materials-related difficulties

Trying to overcome difficulties in designing the composition of a new material
Trying to overcome difficulties in the fabrication or manufacture of a new material
Trying to overcome difficulties in the integration of several different materials to produce one with the required specifications
Other:

Biotechnology and Chemical manufacturing-related difficulties

Developing bioassays
Developing scientific protocols
Submitting a scientific paper for publication
Investigating chemical processes and production methods
Developing new chemical/biological formulations
Developing new drugs or treatments for medical/veterinary conditions
Developing improved chemical coatings/finishes
Improving analytical capacities
Other:

Other difficulties

Developing mathematical or computational models
Creating models to predict the behaviour of complex systems
Translating concepts or knowledge from one area into another
Improving data collection techniques/instruments
Developing improved installation methods

Some technical difficulties can be resolved very simply, using tried and tested techniques are known to work. Others require far more persistence, creativity and going beyond the usual ways of solving the issue. The more difficult the technical problems were, the stronger a claim for R&D tax relief. Please choose the statement that best describes the significance of the technical difficulties your company faced within the claim period.

Even using experts, some of the technical challenges faced were too difficult to resolve and were abandoned.
Even using experts, it took a significant amount of time to diagnose the issues, and to come up with possible solutions. These solutions were not ones your company had used in the past, and would be of interest to its competitors as something novel.
Even using experts, it wasn't immediately apparent how best to solve the issues. There was some technical risk and uncertainty about whether the solution would work.
With a little work, your company could re-apply or extrapolate solutions it had developed in the past. This is vulnerable to challenge by HMRC, who might say that it was reusing knowledge rather than developing new knowledge.
Technical issues were easily anticipated and simple to resolve. This unfortunately means that your company is ineligible to claim for this claim period - HMRC would say that the projects didn't contain sufficient 'technological uncertainty'.

To qualify for tax relief, the difficulties the company is working to resolve must be related to an area of science or technology.

Some examples of areas that do not qualify for R&D tax relief include Archeology, Art and music, Business & management, Economics, History, Humanities, Languages and literature, Law, Media and content generation, Philosophy, ethics and religion, Political science, Psychology, Social and economic geography, Sociology, Teaching and training. Please select up to 3 areas in which your company worked to resolve technical difficulties.

Natural sciences

Mathematics

Applied mathematics
Statistics and probability
Other:

Engineering and technology

Electrical engineering, Electronic engineering, Information engineering

Materials engineering

Chemical engineering

Chemical engineering (plants, products)
Chemical process engineering
Other:

Medical engineering

Medical engineering
Medical laboratory technology (including laboratory samples analysis and diagnostic technologies)
Other:

Environmental biotechnology

Environmental biotechnology
Bioremediation
Diagnostic biotechnologies (DNA chips and biosensing devices)
Other:

Medical and Health Sciences

Clinical medicine

Orthopaedics
Dentistry, oral surgery and medicine
General and internal medicine; other clinical medicine subjects
Other

Health sciences

Nutrition
Public and environmental health
Infectious diseases
Other

Medical biotechnology

Health-related biotechnology
Technologies involving the manipulation of cells, tissues, organs or the whole organism (assisted reproduction)
Technologies involving identifying the functioning of DNA, proteins and enzymes
Biomaterials (as related to medical implants, devices, sensors)
Other:

Agricultural sciences

Animal and dairy science

Animal and dairy science
Husbandry
Veterinary science
Other:

Agricultural biotechnology

Agricultural biotechnology and food biotechnology
GM technology (crops and livestock)
Livestock cloning
Diagnostics (e.g. DNA chips and biosensing devices for the early/accurate detection of diseases)
Biomass feedstock production technologies
Other:

Activities

HMRC need to know when your company was trying to overcome these technical difficulties. Only work that took place within the claim period is eligible for relief. However, the work could have been started before the start of the claim period, or finished after the end of the claim period – it doesn’t matter! Some eligible activities just have to have been carried out during this time.

Routine activities

Routine activities are those that involve little or no technical risk, usually because the task has been done before and is well understood. In claiming for R&D tax relief, it is good practice to show HMRC that the company is able to separate ineligible routine work from the eligible work required to tackle its significant technical challenges.

Eligible activities that contribute to R&D

Activities that directly contribute to R&D are those undertaken by people who are part of the core R&D team. This can include project management, the setting of technical goals and participating in testing and problem-solving. Activities that indirectly contribute to R&D are those that enable the R&D work to be carried out, such as payroll and IT support.

Please select the activities that indirectly contributed to your R&D

Producing documentation or other reports related to the R&D
Maintaining facilities where the work took place
Providing IT support for computers used during the work
Providing security for facilities where work took place
Carrying out administration, finance, HR activities related to the work
Inducting staff onto projects
Training staff, to enable them to participate in the project
Designing and running trials

Evidence to support claim

Although there is no formal requirement to keep records on a company's R&D activities, it is helpful to demonstrate to HMRC that the company has evidence to support its tax claim.

Please select below the types of things your company has available to evidence the work.

Emails relevant to the work
Development diaries
Designs or project plans
Time sheets
Prototypes, whether physical or software
Invoices related to the R&D project
Contracts related to the R&D project
Documents summarising results or effort
Nothing is available to evidence the work

Grants

Having received grant funding will never stop a company being able to make a claim, but the size and type of the grant can have a significant impact on the claim size. The next few questions are designed to identify the size and type of grants received, and enable us to calculate the impact on the claim. Remember that any CBILS/BBLS loans received are classed as Notified State Aid, and should be included in this section.

Total grants received during the claim period

R & D Project Info Capture