Advance assurance for Research and Development (R&D) tax relief

If your company is applying for Research and Development (R&D) tax relief for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for the first time, it could qualify for advance assurance.

Advance assurance is a voluntary scheme and is used to give SMEs a guarantee that any R&D claims for tax relief will be accepted if they are:

• in line with what was discussed and agreed in your application
• claimed within the first 3 accounting periods

Who can apply

You can apply for advance assurance if you’re:

• a SME
• planning to do R&D or already have done
• part of a group and none of the companies linked to you have made a claim before

You can complete the application yourself or your agent can do it for you.

When you cannot apply

You cannot apply if you’re:

• entered into a Disclosable Tax Avoidance Scheme (DOTAS)
• a corporate serious defaulter

What information you will need

To apply for advance assurance you will need:

• your company accounts
• your company registration documents from Companies House
• any HMRC correspondence relating to your claim
• previous Company Tax Returns (not needed for new companies)
• the name of a main contact, for example a research manager or company director with direct knowledge of the company’s R&D to discuss the application with HMRC
• to give some basic information about your company
• to give detailed information about your company’s R&D activities and any costs related to those activities

How to apply

You can apply using the advance assurance form.

Do not use this form to make a claim for tax relief or to make changes to an existing tax relief claim.

After you’ve applied

HMRC will contact you by email to arrange a telephone call with your company so that we can talk about your R&D in more detail. This is normally a short telephone call, but it may involve a longer discussion or a visit to your company if the case is more complex.

We will then send you a letter telling you if your application for advance assurance was successful or not.

If you’re given advance assurance

We will send you a letter explaining your company’s responsibilities and what happens if your R&D activities change.

If you’re not given advance assurance

We will send you an email detailing the reasons why. You will not be able to appeal this decision or re-submit an application for advance assurance, but you can still submit a claim for tax relief in the Company Tax Return.

Before you claim the R&D tax relief

You must follow these steps before you claim the tax relief, or your claim may not be valid.

1. For accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2023, check if you need to submit a claim notification form to notify HMRC in advance of your claim. Read the guidance which tells you when you need to notify, the information you will need to provide and how to send it.

2. From 1 August 2023 you must submit an additional information form to support your claim. Read the guidance which tells you how to send the information and what you will need to provide. You can submit it before 1 August 2023 if you want to give us more information.