Who writes the narrative
Ask for the technical background of the person drafting. Ours are engineers and scientists who interview your technical leads directly, rather than finance staff working from a cost schedule.
R&D Tax Credit Specialists
R&D tax credit specialists for UK innovators
Most claims are written by generalists working from a template. Ours are written by specialists who understand the technology and the guidelines, which is what HMRC actually reads. Size your entitlement with the calculator, then let us build the claim.
What makes an R&D tax credit specialist
The word is used loosely. These are the things worth checking before you appoint anyone, including us.
How the fee works
A fixed fee agreed before we start, quoted against size and complexity. No percentage of your credit, so nobody is paid more for a bigger number than the evidence supports.
What happens under enquiry
HMRC compliance activity on R&D claims has risen sharply. If a claim we prepared is enquired into, we handle the correspondence. Our reports are written on the assumption they will be read closely.
Both sides of non-dilutive funding
We write grant applications as well as claims, so grant funded projects are structured with the tax position in mind from the start rather than reconciled afterwards.
Across the projects we take on after screening, more than 90% of engagements end in funding or relief secured, and more than 80% of individual applications we write succeed. Both figures cover work we accepted, not every enquiry we receive.
Technical scoping with your engineers
We interview the people who did the work and separate genuine advances from routine development, so the claim is built on defensible projects rather than a spreadsheet of costs.
Cost analysis and apportionment
Staff time, externally provided workers, subcontractors, software, cloud and consumables, apportioned with a method we can stand behind if HMRC asks.
HMRC-ready technical report
Written in the language of the guidelines: baseline, uncertainty, advance and the competent professional. Plus the additional information form HMRC now requires.
Enquiry support included
If HMRC opens an enquiry into a claim we prepared, we handle the correspondence. Our reports are written on the assumption they will be read closely.
Entitlement calculator
Estimate what your R&D is worth
Enter the costs behind your technical work for one accounting period. We apply the current UK rules, including the 65% restriction on unconnected subcontractors, and show the working.
£
Gross salary, employer NI and pension for the time spent solving the technical uncertainty.
£
UK-based subcontractors only. Usually claimable at 65% of the invoice for unconnected parties, which we apply for you.
£
Licences, compute and datasets used directly in the R&D, apportioned to the project.
£
Materials, reagents, prototypes and a fair share of light, heat and power.
£
Payments to trial participants and other categories HMRC allows.
Does the work qualify? Five questions HMRC will ask.
- Were you resolving a technical or scientific uncertainty a competent professional could not simply look up?
- Was the work aiming at an advance in the field, not just new to your company?
- Was the work carried out mainly in the UK, or by UK-based staff and contractors?
- Is the claimant a UK limited company paying corporation tax?
- Can you evidence the project timeline, the people involved and the costs?
Which scheme applies to you
Merged R&D expenditure credit
Most UK companies, whatever their size.
20% above-the-line credit, worth roughly 15.0% to 16.2% of qualifying spend after tax.
Enhanced R&D Intensive Support (ERIS)
Loss-making SMEs where qualifying R&D is at least 30% of total expenditure.
An 86% enhancement plus a 14.5% payable credit, worth up to around 27.0% of qualifying spend in cash.
Rates and thresholds are set by HMRC and can change at a Budget. We confirm the rules that apply to your accounting period before we quote.
How a claim runs
Free entitlement review
A 20-minute call to test whether the work qualifies, which scheme applies and roughly what the claim is worth. If it is not worth claiming, we say so.
Technical interviews
Two to three short sessions with your technical leads. We do the writing, you correct the science.
Costs and methodology
We work with your finance lead or accountant to pull the qualifying costs and agree apportionment before anything is drafted.
Report, review, submit
You approve the technical narrative and cost schedule, then we file alongside your CT600 with your accountant and track the claim through to payment.
Founder time is roughly four to six hours in total, nearly all of it in the technical interviews.
Grants and R&D tax relief together
Non-dilutive funding works best as a stack. A grant pays for the project up front, relief returns cash on the spend afterwards.
- Under the merged scheme, grant funding no longer restricts a claim: the credit is calculated on qualifying expenditure however the project was funded.
- No project splitting. You do not need to carve grant funded costs out of the claim or track a subsidised proportion.
- A de minimis state aid limit applies only to Northern Ireland registered companies claiming ERIS, independently of any grant.
- Planning the grant and the claim together still beats optimising either one alone, which is why the same team handles both.
How we charge
A fixed fee agreed before we start, quoted against the size and complexity of the claim. No percentage of your credit, no equity and no lock-in on future years. You keep the technical report either way.
Already claiming elsewhere?
We will review last year's report free of charge and tell you plainly whether it would survive an enquiry and whether qualifying costs were missed.
Find out what your R&D is worth
Book a free 20-minute review. We will tell you which scheme applies, roughly what the claim is worth and whether it is worth doing at all.