R&D Tax Relief: 31 December could close the door on unclaimed 2024 tax relief

If your company has a 31 December year end, there are two R&D Tax Relief timelines to consider over the coming months.

The first is retrospective. If you carried out qualifying R&D during 2024 but did not make a claim, you may still have time to act, subject to the claim notification rules.

The second is your current accounting period. Reviewing your 2026 R&D activity before the year ends can help ensure that qualifying projects, costs and supporting evidence are properly identified while the details are still readily available.

1 | Could you still make an R&D claim for 2024?

For a standard 12-month accounting period ended 31 December 2024, the deadline for making an R&D Tax Relief claim is normally 31 December 2026.

This means that if your company carried out qualifying R&D during 2024 but did not claim, there may still be an opportunity to review the work undertaken and make a claim before the deadline.

The same deadline may also be relevant if you have already made a claim for the period but subsequently identified additional qualifying projects or expenditure, subject to the rules governing amendments to the Company Tax Return.

If you are unsure whether work undertaken during 2024 could qualify, it is important to review it with enough time to assess the projects, identify the relevant costs and prepare the information required for a claim.

2 | What should you be doing before your 2026 year end?

While 31 December is not the deadline for submitting your 2026 R&D claim, it is a useful point to review the activity that has taken place during the year.

BEFORE THE ACCOUNTING PERIOD ENDS, CONSIDER WHETHER YOU HAVE:

✓  identified the R&D projects undertaken during 2026;

✓  recorded the technological or scientific advances being sought and the uncertainties encountered;

✓  identified the competent professionals who can explain the technical work undertaken;

✓  identified the employees, subcontractors and other costs associated with those projects;

✓  considered how the merged R&D scheme or Enhanced R&D Intensive Support (ERIS) rules apply to your company;

✓  checked whether restrictions on overseas subcontracted R&D affect your qualifying expenditure;

3 | Do you need to submit additional information or notify HMRC?

R&D Tax Relief is claimed through the Company Tax Return. Companies must also submit an Additional Information Form to HMRC. This must be submitted before, or on the same day as, the Company Tax Return containing the R&D claim. If both are submitted on the same day, the Additional Information Form must be submitted first.

Depending on your company’s previous R&D claiming history, you may also need to submit a claim notification form in advance.

The claim notification requirement applies to all companies planning to claim R&D Tax Relief for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2023, but most established claimants are automatically exempt from having to act on it. You will only need to submit a claim notification form if you are claiming for the first time, or if your last valid R&D claim was made more than three years before your claim notification deadline.

»   Because this exemption depends on your company’s specific claiming history rather than the type of company you are, it is important to check exactly where you fall rather than assuming it doesn’t apply to you.

4 | Your R&D Tax Relief timeline

For a company with a standard 12-month accounting period ending 31 December 2026, the key dates are:

Before 31 December: two questions to ask

→  Did we undertake qualifying R&D during 2024 that has never been claimed?

→  Have we reviewed our 2026 projects and started capturing the technical and financial evidence needed for our next claim?

If you have any questions about your R&D activity, whether a previous project could still be claimed, or the deadlines that apply to your company, get in touch with the ABGi team and we will be happy to help. If you are unsure whether your 2024 projects qualify, the ABGi team can conduct a complimentary pre-screening review before the December deadline closes.