Should I use HMRC’s SME online R&D tax claims service?

HMRC launched the R&D tax credit online service in February 2019. The service provides a format to collate the supporting documents required for your R&D tax credit claim. 

The online claim service can help you to prepare a claim if you self-file.  However, it is not a complete claim service. You will still need to have identified your qualifying projects, the corresponding R&D expenditure, and the amount of any R&D tax relief or cash credit due. 

At EmpowerRD we recommend using an accountant or self filing if you’ve spent less than £50k on R&D in the past financial year.  If you’ve spent more than £50k, we advise speaking with our team about your claim. At this point, identifying your costs becomes more complex, and HMRC will begin to apply more scrutiny to your claim.

At EmpowerRD we employ industry-leading R&D claims advisors and ex-HMRC inspectors to assess your claim and help you identify your costs, while also providing an intelligent online platform to help you to co-ordinate the claim across members of your team. Read our Case Studies to learn more about how our customers have benefitted from using EmpowerRD for their claims.