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Get to know the Additional Information Form for R&D tax

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Author: Tom Mason

If you have clients currently claiming R&D tax relief or credits, you’ll likely have come across the Additional Information Form (AIF) required for a successful R&D tax claim.

However, if your clients are seeking to claim for the first time, then you may not be familiar with this mainstay of the overhauled R&D tax scheme, introduced by the Government in a bid to reduce ineligible claims.

Whether you’re a seasoned pro or an AIF novice, it never hurts to go back to basics for one of the most complex aspects of making your clients’ R&D tax claims.

Required information

The AIF does what it says on the tin. It provides an opportunity for your client to give more information to HMRC to support their claim – including what is known as a ‘technical narrative’.

This is the point at which you and your client work together to paint a picture of their R&D project and how it qualifies for relief, including:

  • How the work meets the definition of ‘science and technology’
  • How the work seeks to overcome or address an uncertainty
  • How costs included in the claim are relevant to R&D
  • How your work achieves an advancement rather than applying an existing thing in a new way.

However, this is not the only information required by the AIF. Your client will also need to provide:

  • Company details, including PAYE reference number and VAT registration number
  • Contact details for a senior R&D contact
  • Accounting period start and end dates
  • R&D intensity details
  • Total relevant expenditure
  • Qualifying expenditure details and cost breakdowns
  • Details for some or all projects, depending on company size and R&D intensity.

This will be used by HMRC to build a clear picture of your client’s activities and eligibility, and help to decide whether their claim is approved, denied or queried.

The practicalities

It’s likely that you’ll submit the form on behalf of your client via HMRC’s online agent portal, with one for each accounting period in which they make a claim.

You may do this before submitting a Company Tax Return or on the day that the return is submitted, but you must not submit after this or your client’s claim may be considered incomplete.

This may result in it being denied.

Preparing a complete AIF is the key to helping your clients maximise the benefit they receive from the R&D tax scheme and to incentivising innovation among the businesses you work with.

For support with preparing your clients’ AIF submissions, please contact our specialist R&D tax team today.