Claims reflect continued investment in R&D

In 2017-18 businesses made 48 635 research and development (R&D) tax credit claims of which 42 075 were in the small and medium-sized enterprises scheme. According to HMRC statistics so far £4.3bn of R&D tax relief support has been claimed for 2017-18 corresponding to £31.3bn of R&D expenditure. 

The data for 2017-18 is not yet complete because returns are still being submitted. So to avoid misleading comparisons between years HMRC has compared the years 2016-17 and 2015-16 when discussing change between years and 2017-18 when discussing in-year characteristics.  

In 2016-17 the total number of claims for R&D tax credits rose to 52 335 an increase of 20% from 2015-16. The increase was primarily driven by a rise in the number of SME claims which totalled 45 045 in 2016-17 an increase of 22% from 2015-16. The amount of R&D support claimed...