Research
R&D tax relief statistics: what HMRC's latest figures show
HMRC's September 2026 figures: £8.2bn of R&D relief in 2024/25, 40,325 claims, plus sector, region, claim size and error rate data in one place.
HMRC's latest statistics show that companies claimed an estimated £8.2 billion of R&D tax relief in the 2024 to 2025 financial year, up 5% on the year before, even though the number of claims fell 17% to 40,325. The relief now comes mostly through the merged scheme, which is why the headline figures moved so much. Fewer, larger claims account for most of the money, and HMRC's estimate of error and fraud has fallen sharply since its compliance push began.
This article pulls the main figures into one place and says where each comes from. Everything below is taken from HMRC publications. Where we have done our own arithmetic, we say so.
The headline numbers
HMRC published Research and Development Tax Credits Statistics on 29 September 2026. The figures are provisional and cover accounting periods ending in the 2024 to 2025 financial year.
| Measure | 2024 to 2025 | Change on previous year |
|---|---|---|
| Total relief claimed | £8.2 billion | +5% |
| R&D expenditure supported | £51.0 billion | +7% |
| Total claims | 40,325 | -17% |
| Average claim value | Not stated in pounds | +27% |
Source: HMRC, Research and Development Tax Credits Statistics: September 2026, published 29 September 2026. Figures are provisional and rounded to the nearest 5 or £5 million.
For context, HMRC's September 2025 edition put relief for 2023 to 2024 at £7.6 billion. The 2026 edition shows the same year as £7.8 billion, so earlier years are revised as more returns arrive. The next edition is planned for autumn 2027.
SME versus RDEC: the scheme change
The 2024 to 2025 figures are the first to include the merged scheme and Enhanced R&D Intensive Support (ERIS), which apply to accounting periods starting on or after 1 April 2024. That makes SME and RDEC comparisons with earlier years unreliable.
| Scheme group | Relief | Change | Claims | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SME and ERIS schemes | £2.3 billion | -29% | 24,570 | -36% |
| RDEC and merged scheme | £5.9 billion | +29% | 15,760 | +50% |
Source: HMRC, September 2026. Components may not sum to totals because of rounding.
HMRC says about 91% of merged scheme claims came from SMEs, which explains most of the shift. By company size, large companies received £4.6 billion of relief and SMEs £3.6 billion. Across all SME claims, including those under the merged scheme, the count fell by 19%, while large-company claims under RDEC and the merged scheme rose 4% to 3,800.
If you want to see how the two routes work, read our pages on the merged scheme and ERIS.
Who claims: by sector and region
Three sectors dominate. HMRC's figures for 2024 to 2025 are:
| Sector | Share of claims | Share of relief |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 27% | 27% |
| Information and Communication | 27% | 20% |
| Professional, Scientific and Technical | 20% | 24% |
Source: HMRC, September 2026.
Together these made up 75% of claims and 71% of value. Since 2021 to 2022, claims have fallen in every sector. Five smaller sectors fell by more than 75%: Accommodation and Food, Real Estate, Education, Wholesale and Retail Trade and Repairs, and Health and Social Work.
By registered office, the leading regions are:
| Region | Share of claims | Share of relief |
|---|---|---|
| London | 24% | 30% |
| South East | 15% | 19% |
| East of England | 10% | 14% |
Source: HMRC, September 2026. A registered office may not match where the R&D takes place.
Claim size: a few large claims carry the relief
Claims of £500,000 and above were 6% of claims but 69% of relief value in 2024 to 2025, up from 62% of value in 2023 to 2024. Claims of up to £50,000 were 58% of claims and only 6% of value. Claims over £2 million rose by 14% in number and 21% in value.
On our arithmetic, £8.2 billion across 40,325 claims is roughly £200,000 a claim. That is not an HMRC figure, and because of the skew above, a typical small company claim is far lower.
First-time claimants
HMRC reports first-time applicants only up to 2023 to 2024, because 2024 to 2025 data is partial. Overall first-time applicants fell 43% in 2023 to 2024, the fifth annual fall in a row. SME scheme first-time applicants were 3,405, down 53%. RDEC scheme first-time applicants were 1,845, down 8%.
Error, fraud and compliance
The statistics publication does not include error and fraud estimates. They come from HMRC's annual reports and its "approach to R&D tax reliefs" publication.
| Year | Overall error and fraud rate | SME | RDEC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 to 2021 | 16.7% | 24.4% | 3.6% |
| 2021 to 2022 | 17.6% | 25.8% | 4.6% |
| 2022 to 2023 | 13.3% | 19.5% | 1.7% |
| 2023 to 2024 | 7.8% | 14.6% | 2.8% |
Source: HMRC, Approach to research and development tax reliefs 2023 to 2024, published 30 October 2024. The 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024 figures are described as illustrative.
The same October 2024 publication reports the scale of enforcement in 2023 to 2024:
- 9,700 compliance checks, up from 8,300.
- 17% of claims checked, up from 10%.
- 77% of checks led to an adjustment.
- £441 million identified as incorrectly claimed, up from £288 million.
- 246 days on average to complete a check.
- 64% of the value of first-time claims for 2021 to 2022 was non-compliant.
What the figures mean for claimants
The pattern is clear. HMRC is paying out about the same amount in total, but to fewer companies, and it is checking far more of what it receives. The drop in speculative claims, and the fall in the estimated error rate, point the same way.
For a company with genuine R&D, none of this changes the entitlement. It raises the bar on evidence. We prepare every claim to our claim standard, and if HMRC does write to you, our HMRC enquiry defence service picks it up. To estimate what a claim could be worth, use the R&D benefit calculator.
Sources and limits
- HMRC, Research and Development Tax Credits Statistics: September 2026 (29 September 2026), at gov.uk/government/statistics/corporate-tax-research-and-development-tax-credit.
- HMRC, Research and Development Tax Credits Statistics: September 2025, for the 2023 to 2024 figure of £7.6 billion.
- HMRC, Approach to research and development tax reliefs 2023 to 2024 (30 October 2024), for compliance and error figures.
All 2024 to 2025 figures are provisional, rounded and subject to revision. This article is general information, not advice.
Talk to us
If you would like to know how these trends affect your own claim, book a call. We reply the same working day.
