Claiming research and development (R&D) tax credits is set to become more difficult as HMRC seeks to clamp down on the estimated £1.13 billion of fraud and error in claims.
From 8 August 2023, all businesses or their R&D advisers will have to fill in an additional information form before they submit their company's corporation tax return when claiming R&D tax relief.
Each additional information form will need to be signed by a named senior officer of the claimant company and must contain detailed information on the R&D project.
Claimants will also be required to include a breakdown of the costs across categories, the number of R&D projects carried out, and a description of some or all of the projects, depending on the number being submitted.
HMRC has designed the new process to allow it to quickly assess the validity of claims and the expertise of agents involved in preparing them.
The tax authority found that 17% of R&D claims were fraudulent in July 2023, higher than its previously published estimate of 3.6%.
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