Guide
What documents do you need for an R&D claim?
The records to gather for an R&D tax claim: technical narrative, project notes, timesheets, payroll, invoices, contracts and the HMRC forms. Use our checklist.
For an R&D claim you need five groups of records: a technical narrative for each project, evidence of what was done and when, payroll and time records for staff costs, invoices and contracts for other costs, and the details HMRC asks for on its forms. HMRC does not require you to send the supporting records with the claim, but you must be able to produce them if it asks. Keeping them organised from the start also makes the claim cheaper and quicker to prepare.
1. Technical narrative and project records
This is the heart of the claim. For each project, you need to show what was uncertain and what you did about it.
- A technical narrative for each project: the aim, the scientific or technological uncertainty, why it could not be readily resolved by a competent professional, and how you tried to resolve it. See what qualifies.
- Contemporaneous project documents: specifications, design documents, test plans, test results, lab notebooks, prototypes, failed experiments and revisions.
- Dates: when the project started and when the uncertainty was resolved or the work stopped.
- Software and engineering records: code repository history, issue trackers, sprint notes and architecture decisions that show the problems encountered.
- Funding and monitoring reports if the project was grant-funded. These are often written to show success, so we read them for the problems and set-backs, which are what the claim needs.
A failed project can still qualify. Keep the evidence of what did not work.
2. Staff costs: payroll and time
Staff costs are usually the largest part of a claim, and the cost is apportioned by the time spent on qualifying R&D.
- Payroll records: gross pay, bonuses, employer pension contributions and employer National Insurance for each person involved.
- A list of people and what each did on the projects, including any director paid through payroll who did hands-on technical work.
- Time evidence: timesheets, task trackers, project plans or calendars that support each percentage.
- The method: a short note explaining how the apportionment was done.
Dividends are not qualifying staff costs. Payroll records also give the PAYE and NIC figures used for the PAYE cap.
3. Other qualifying costs
Our qualifying costs page lists the categories. For each, keep the evidence.
- Consumables: invoices, with a note of the project they were used on.
- Software, cloud and data licence costs: invoices that show the service, and a note of the share used for R&D.
- Subcontractors: contracts, invoices, and evidence of who decided the R&D needed doing. Payments to unconnected subcontractors are claimed at 65%.
- Externally provided workers: the agency or supply contract and invoices, with the connection position noted.
- Where the work was done: from 1 April 2024, costs of subcontracted work and externally provided workers are subject to an overseas restriction, so record the location of the work.
- Clinical trial volunteer payments, if relevant.
Capital items are not claimable under R&D tax relief. Keep a separate list of equipment bought for R&D, as it may qualify for R&D capital allowances.
4. Company and group information
- The accounts for the period and the corporation tax computation.
- The accounting period and period of account dates, which drive the deadlines.
- Details of connected companies and group structure, which matter for the ERIS intensity test, the cap exemption and the connected-party rules.
- For ERIS: figures for relevant R&D expenditure and total relevant expenditure, for the 30% test.
- Whether the company has claimed before, and when, to decide if a notification is needed.
5. The HMRC forms
Two online forms sit in front of the Company Tax Return.
- Claim notification, if you are a first-time claimant or your last claim was more than three years before the end of the notification period. It must be submitted within six months of the end of the period of account. It asks for your UTR, a senior internal contact, contact details for all agents, the period dates and a summary of the planned R&D. See claim notification.
- Additional information form, which is required for every claim and goes in before or with the return. It asks for company references, a cost breakdown, a senior internal contact, every agent involved and project descriptions. Where you have more than three projects, you describe at least three covering at least half of the claimed expenditure. See the additional information form.
Keep a copy of each submission and the reference numbers. The figures and descriptions on the forms must agree with the technical report and the return.
Keep records as you go
The strongest evidence is made at the time of the work. A short note at the end of each sprint or test cycle, saying what was tried and what failed, is worth far more than a report written years later. If you are a first-time claimant, start now: the notification deadline runs from the first day of the period of account to six months after it ends, and the claim itself is due within two years of the period end. See claim deadlines.
A simple checklist
Before you start, gather:
- Accounts, tax computation and period dates
- A list of projects and the people who worked on them
- Payroll records for those people
- Time records or other evidence of apportionment
- Project documents, test results and repository or tracker history
- Invoices for consumables, software, cloud and data costs
- Contracts and invoices for subcontractors and agency workers
- Grant agreements and monitoring reports
- Group structure and connected company details
- Details of any earlier R&D claims
Do not worry if you cannot tick every box. We would rather start from what you have than have you reconstruct records unnecessarily.
Talk to us
If you want us to look at what you have, book a call. We will give you a short ordered list so you are not overwhelmed, and we will tell you plainly what is missing. If HMRC has already asked about a claim, our HMRC enquiry defence page explains how we help. Every claim we prepare is reviewed and signed off by a Chartered Tax Adviser.
This article is general information, not advice. Please speak to us before acting.
