R&D risk for accountants

Regulations in the research and development (R&D) sector are changing. For accounting periods starting 1 April 2023 there has been an obligation for an accountant’s name to appear on their clients’ R&D submissions. Accountants will now have to shoulder some responsibility for any claims which is a huge development. What does this mean in practical terms and what is the risk to accountants?

HMRC is ramping up R&D claim compliance. In 2020-21 claims totalled £6.6bn with the government predicting that close to £470m in payments were issued for bogus claims or those that lacked sufficient technical information. Many claimants will be in line for an unwelcome HMRC letter with 250 inspectors now in place to scrutinise submissions and one in 25 claims estimated to be in the spotlight.

For accounting periods starting from 1 April 2023 a new set of regulations came into force...