New HMRC guidance a positive move for R&D tax relief

HMRC’s new guidance for making research and development (R&D) claims received little fanfare when published online at the end of October (tinyurl.com/hmrcranddguidoct23). This new guidance has landed at a time of much turmoil for R&D tax reliefs so what little commentary the new guidelines for compliance (GfC) (tinyurl.com/hmrcgfc) did generate tended to highlight how far removed it seems from current practice in HMRC’s volume compliance approach. However there is a risk that recent frustrations with HMRC will overshadow the wider significance of this publication as a welcome first step to raising awareness and understanding of how to identify R&D for tax purposes.

The real test will be in how this guidance is used in practice. As ever the proof will be in the pudding.

Need for good guidance

At ForrestBrown we’ve long called for clearer guidance to align the interpretation adopted by...