Research and Development (R&D) tax relief for small and medium-sized enterprises
Tax relief for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with an accounting period that starts before 1 April 2024.
Who it is for
To claim R&D tax relief for SMEs, your company must have:
- less than 500 staff
- a turnover of under 100 million euros or a balance sheet total under 86 million euros
- an accounting period beginning before 1 April 2024
You must include the staff, turnover and balance sheets of any linked or partner companies in your total when you work out if you can claim R&D tax relief for SMEs.
You cannot claim this tax relief for a project if:
- it's in the arts, humanities or social sciences (including economics)
- you've received R&D relief, vaccines research relief or both, totalling more than 7.5 million euros for it
- you've received any other State aid (excluding the SME tax relief) for it
- it's for work subcontracted to you
- it's subsidised in some other way, for example by a grant, but you may be able to claim on the part that is not subsidised
Find out if you can claim R&D expenditure credit instead.
Support you can get
The R&D tax relief for SMEs allows your company to:
- deduct an extra 86% of your qualifying costs from your trading profit for tax purposes, as well as the normal 100% deduction, to make a total of 186% deduction
- claim a payable tax credit if the company has claimed relief and made a loss
The payable tax credit is worth up to:
- 10% of the surrenderable loss
- 14.5% of the surrenderable loss if the company meets the intensity condition for expenditure on or after 1 April 2023
How to apply
If your company and project are eligible to claim R&D tax relief for SMEs, you may be able to apply for advance assurance to confirm if your claim will be accepted. You must also check if you need to tell HMRC that you're planning to claim this relief.
Support organisers
- HM Revenue & Customs