In a bid to mitigate abuse of the R&D tax credit relief, HMRC have halted the payment of some R&D tax credit claims as it investigates irregularities in claims.
HMRC have contacted some accountancy firms informing them of the decision to pause the payment of the tax credits as it investigates what it refers to as ‘irregular claims’ for some tax credit payments.
HMRC said that whilst the majority of R&D tax credit claims are ‘genuine and will not be affected’, the move may cause delays to its processing times for other R&D tax credit claims to ‘ensure they prevent abuse of the relief’.
HMRC has requested that claimants don’t contact the R&D helpline or mailbox to chase outstanding claims. Instead, it has asked agents and companies to review their online account for updates on the status of claims.
Dominic Aspinall, Tax manager and R&D expert at Cowgills commented “Whilst we have not had any direct instructions from HMRC informing us that payments have been halted, we are finding that repayments are taking a little longer at the moment.
“As always, for payments to be processed quickly, it’s vital that all entries on the R&D section of the corporation tax return (CT600 form) are properly completed and submitting additional information to support claims, such as accurate R&D reports, will help HMRC to process claims quicker.”
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.
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The information was correct at time of publishing but may now be out of date.
