How to Claim R&D Tax Relief Yourself Without an Advisor

UK companies can prepare and submit R&D tax relief claims themselves. Hiring a specialist R&D tax advisor is not an HMRC requirement.

However, preparing a claim independently does not remove the company's responsibilities. The business must understand the applicable rules, provide accurate technical evidence, calculate qualifying expenditure and complete the required HMRC submissions.

The main question is therefore not whether you are allowed to prepare your own claim. It is whether your business has the knowledge, documentation and resources to do so reliably.

What can your business prepare itself?

The work involved in an R&D claim can be divided into four responsibilities.

A company's technical team is often best placed to explain what actually happened during an R&D project.

An external tax advisor can assist with interpreting the rules and reviewing the claim, but does not replace the need for reliable technical information from the business.

A practical self-claim preparation checklist

1. Assign responsibility inside the company

Choose an internal person to coordinate the claim. This could be a director, finance manager or another suitable employee.

Identify who will provide technical explanations, who will prepare financial information and who will authorise the final submissions.

Avoid leaving responsibility entirely with one person who has no direct knowledge of the R&D work.

2. Separate technical assessment from tax calculations

Technical eligibility and financial eligibility are different questions.

Your technical team should explain what advance was sought, which uncertainties existed and what work was undertaken.

Your finance team should separately verify which costs can be included under the applicable tax rules.

A technically qualifying project does not make every associated expense eligible.

For more information, see R&D Tax Relief Eligibility and Qualifying R&D Expenditure.

3. Prepare an evidence file for each project

A useful project evidence file should contain:

• The project objective and intended scientific or technological advance.
• A description of existing knowledge and technical capabilities.
• The specific uncertainties investigated.
• The methods, experiments and investigations undertaken.
• Results, including unsuccessful tests.
• The competent professional's technical explanation.
• Supporting documents and references.

The evidence should reflect the company's genuine activities rather than being reconstructed to produce a more favourable claim.

See R&D Evidence Templates and Examples.

4. Prepare and reconcile expenditure

Collect the relevant payroll, purchasing, project and cost information.

Identify the amounts attributable to qualifying activities and retain the basis for any allocations.

The final figures should reconcile with the accounting records and the amounts reported in the claim.

5. Complete the HMRC submission requirements

The company must identify its applicable relief scheme, check the filing requirements, prepare the Additional Information Form where required and submit the R&D claim through its Company Tax Return.

Claim notification requirements may also apply depending on the claim date and applicable rules.

For the detailed process, see R&D Claim Deadlines and Additional Information Form Guide.

When might professional advice be worthwhile?

Preparing the claim independently may be more straightforward when the company has well-documented projects, reliable financial records and employees familiar with the relevant technical and tax requirements.

Professional assistance may be particularly useful when:

• It is unclear which company is entitled to claim under a contractual R&D arrangement.
• Significant R&D work was performed by overseas contractors or workers.
• The company has connected businesses or complicated group arrangements.
• Eligibility for Enhanced R&D Intensive Support is uncertain.
• There are unusual accounting or Corporation Tax circumstances.
• HMRC has opened an enquiry or requested additional explanations.

Using software and obtaining professional advice are not mutually exclusive. A business can prepare its own records and obtain targeted advice where necessary.

How can self-preparation reduce costs?

Some R&D tax advisory services charge a fixed fee, an hourly fee or a percentage of the claim benefit.

Preparing your own technical evidence and financial records may reduce the work that must be performed externally.

For example, a company that has already documented its R&D projects, technical conclusions and cost allocations may need less assistance collecting and reconstructing information.

The actual savings depend on the advisor's fee structure, the complexity of the claim and the work the company can complete reliably.

Self-preparation should never come at the expense of claim accuracy.

Official HMRC references

• HMRC — Claiming R&D tax relief
• HMRC — Make a claim on your Company Tax Return
• HMRC — Additional information required before claiming

General information, not professional tax advice.