Following the announcement last month of the decision to suspend payment of R&D tax claims, HMRC is strengthening its checks into claims.
There will be additional checks with the aim of clamping down on abuse of the relief and these extra checks will mean HMRC’s standard processing times will increase.
HMRC has allocated additional resources to R&D tax relief compliance, with 100 new compliance officers and is undertaking work to better understand the nature and scale of errors and fraud associated with the reliefs.
What have HMRC said?
On the agents’ forum, HMRC stated: ‘We appreciate agents’ and claimants’ patience while we handle these claims’.
For the majority of claims, HMRC now aims to pay the tax credit within 40 days, which is up from the standard 28-day processing timeframe.
HMRC has also stressed that claimants must follow this guidance:
- To help HMRC process R&D payments quickly, ensure all entries are completed on the R&D section of the corporation tax return (CT600 form).
- Submitting additional information to support the claim, such as the R&D report, will help HMRC process the claim quicker.
- Review the latest guidance on completing the CT600 form on uk;
- If a claim is submitted that is incorrect, inflated, or fraudulent then you may be liable to a penalty.
HMRC has asked claimants not to contact the R&D helpline/mailbox to chase their claims.
The estimated total amount of R&D tax relief support claimed for the year ending March 2020 is £7.4bn, an increase of 19% from the previous year which corresponds to £47.5bn of R&D expenditure, 15% higher than the previous year.
Cowgills are experts in R&D tax claims, with over 15 years’ experience in reviewing, managing and submitting successful claims. Get in touch if you need our help.
Disclaimer
The information was correct at time of publishing but may now be out of date.
