How To Submit an R&D Tax Claim

You’ve worked out that your projects qualify, you’ve added up your eligible expenditure and you’ve done the calculations for what your claim is worth. But how do you make the claim and get your tax credit?

The deadline for making an R&D tax claim is 12 months after the end of the accounting period that you’re claiming for.

However, with the new requirement for pre-filing notifications, you should start your claim as early as possible to ensure that you don’t miss the additional deadlines. More on that below.

For example:

Company A spends €500,000 on R&D in the accounting period running from 1^st April 2023 to 31^st March 2024. Company A can make a claim for these costs until 31^st March 2025.

The deadline is always 12 months from the end of the accounting period, even if the period is shortened or lengthened.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve already sent off your corporation tax return and then decide you want to make a claim. As long as you're still within the permitted time limit for making an R&D claim, you'll be able to make a claim by resubmitting your tax return.

You won't need to provide any supporting documentation to make a claim, but you should aim to have all your evidence ready as early as possible. This ensures your claim is made correctly while the information is still fresh in your mind and avoids a scramble to gather the details if Revenue queries the claim at a later date.

Your claim is submitted through your Corporation Tax Return (CT1) through Revenue Online Service (ROS). You’ll need to declare how you want to claim the credit, and, if it’s your first claim or your first in a while, you’ll need to submit a pre-filing notification (see below) at least 90 days before you make the claim.

Form CT1 covers various elements of a company's financial activities, including profits, losses, tax credits, and allowances, but it’s also how R&D tax claims are made. This can be done by the company or its accountant; specialist advisors are unable to do this on your behalf, so make sure your accountant is available if you’re up against the deadline.

The credit can be used to reduce a company’s corporation tax liability. If the company has no liabilities, the credit may be carried forward or received in cash instalments.

To claim the R&D tax credit, companies must include specific details in the relevant sections of the form:

• Description of R&D activities: A brief explanation of the R&D projects carried out.
• Qualifying expenditure: Amounts spent on employee salaries, plant and machinery, and other qualifying costs related to R&D.
• Grant funding: Expenditure must be reported net of any grants or financial assistance received.
• Credit to be carried forward: For accounting periods ending on or after 31 December 2023, details of the amount of the R&D credit to be used to reduce corporation tax in future accounting periods.

For accounting periods starting on or after 1^st January 2024, some companies claiming R&D tax credits must notify Revenue before submitting the claim.

This pre-filing notification is obligatory for first-time claimants or those who have not made a claim in the preceding three accounting periods. The notification should be made with Revenue’s official form at least 90 days before the R&D tax credit claim.

However, any company that has made a claim within the last three years before submitting will be exempt from this pre-filing requirement. Consistent claimants can continue using the scheme without extra admin.

R&D tax claims must be made within 12 months from the end of the accounting period. Therefore, the last day to submit a pre-filing notification is 90 days before this date. We advise submitting a pre-filing notification as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

The pre-filing notification form requires detailed information, including:

1. Company Information: The company's name, address, and corporation tax number.
2. R&D Project Overview: The number of employees involved, the number of projects being claimed and the amount of funding and/or grants received.
3. R&D Project Details: A description of the R&D activities being carried out.

Companies claiming expenditure on qualifying buildings or structures used for R&D purposes must complete a separate form. This includes confirmation of the building's status as a qualifying structure, the proportion of the building being used for R&D activities, and disclosure of any financial assistance received.

More details on how to fill in the forms can be found in our guide to the pre-filing notification.

If this is your first R&D tax claim, or the first in three years, you should get your pre-filing notification in as soon as possible. The notification needs to be in at least 90 days before the actual R&D tax credit claim, so it’s better to err on the side of caution here.

If you’ve been making consistent R&D tax claims for the last few years, you should be able to make your R&D tax claim as normal.

If you have any questions about these changes, or if you need guidance on the level of detail required to make a claim, get in touch with the experts at Tax Cloud. We’ve been making claims for over 20 years and are happy to advise on making correct, robust and maximised claims.

Tax Cloud is Ireland's only online portal for making maximised R&D tax claims. Our expert team reviews your work and guides you in making a robust claim without the headaches of reading the legislation. We take care of the admin on your behalf, so you can focus on what you do best: innovating.

Author Barrie Dowsett, ACMA, GCMA CEO, Tax Cloud