Preparing your R&D claim

Overview 📘

When preparing your R&D claim, HMRC expects detailed, technical information about the work carried out, specifically what you built, why it was difficult, and how you overcame uncertainty.

This guide outlines the type of information we’ll need from you. Don’t worry if you can’t answer every question perfectly, focus on the uniqueness of your technical solution and the challenges you faced, rather than simply describing the project’s purpose or business outcome.

💡 Tip: Think about how your project pushed the limits of technology, not just how it met customer needs.

🔍 Project Overview

Start by outlining what your project set out to achieve and what existed before you began.

Key questions:

• What were the overall project objectives?
• What problem or requirement were you addressing?
• What gaps or limitations existed in existing technology or systems?
• What technologies or solutions were available before the project started (proprietary, open-source, or off-the-shelf)?
• How did those fall short or fail to deliver the functionality you needed?
• What have competitors implemented, and how does your approach differ technically?

💡 We’re looking for evidence that your project advanced knowledge or capability in your field — not just that it built something new commercially.

🧩 Technological Advance

Describe what was technologically new or improved as part of your project.

Key questions:

• What was the main technological goal or advance you sought to achieve?
• What new or unique components did you create?
• Which aspects were a genuine first or required innovation to achieve?
• How did your system architecture work at a high level?
• How did you manage communication, integration, or interoperability between components or services?
• What performance or efficiency gains were targeted?

💡 Be specific about how you approached these challenges — this helps demonstrate the technical substance of your work.

📊 Timelines and Milestones

Provide a rough timeline for the project to help us understand the progression and duration of the R&D activities.

Include:

• Project start date
• Major phases such as design, development, testing, and prototyping
• Key milestones or breakthroughs
• (If relevant) release or delivery dates

⚙️ Technological Complexities

This is one of the most important sections, it helps establish the scientific or technological uncertainty that defines qualifying R&D.

Consider including details such as:

• Why the system or solution was technologically difficult to build
• The different design options or approaches you evaluated
• Challenges in achieving non-functional improvements (e.g. performance, scalability, reliability)
• Any targets or metrics that were unclear or difficult to meet
• What went wrong, issues that didn’t work first time and how they were fixed
• Areas that required multiple iterations, prototypes, or trial and error
• Examples of prototypes, feasibility studies, or proofs of concept that were created
• Any testing frameworks or performance testing carried out

💡 The more detail you can provide about failed attempts or technical iteration, the stronger your R&D case will be.

🔍 Project Progress and Adjustments

Projects evolve, and that’s normal. Include information about how your work developed over time.

Consider noting:

• Whether any redesigns were needed
• Whether parts of the project failed or were abandoned
• Any changes in scope during development
• Where the project paused or shifted direction due to technical issues

✅ Summary

• Focus on technical implementation, not business outcomes.
• Describe what made your work uncertain, experimental, or challenging.
• Be open about failures, iterations, and design changes, they demonstrate genuine R&D activity.
• Don’t worry about writing perfectly, we’ll help refine and structure your responses.