How can accountants support clients now that the Advanced Notification Form is being scrapped for R&D tax relief claims?

The 2026 Autumn Budget has undoubtedly brought accountants many things to discuss with their clients to ensure that they are ready for the 2027 tax year and beyond.

Part of the announcements revealed on the day were some subtle changes to how R&D tax relief will work in the future, with both the Additional Information Form (AIF) and the Advanced Notification Form (ANF) subject to review.

While the AIF is going to be changed, the ANF is set to be scrapped entirely, so accountants should know what this means for them and the clients they seek to help with R&D tax relief claims.

What will scrapping the Advanced Notification Form achieve for R&D tax relief claims?

As though bestowed with the gift of prophecy, we were recently discussing one of the more concerning trends that were revealed in the latest R&D tax relief statistics – the sharp decline in first-time claims.

In that article, we discussed how the ANF could be acting as a barrier to many legitimate businesses getting the funding they need to keep on innovating simply because they were unaware of the need to complete it within such a strict deadline.

While the ANF may have been designed to ensure that innovators gave R&D tax relief claims the necessary consideration before making a submission, the existence of it is not necessarily the most well-known piece of information.

For accountants who have to juggle many client concerns, keeping track of who needs to file an ANF and when can sometimes be a bridge too far and clients can easily slip through the cracks.

If one of your clients has recently been burned by the lack of ANF, then all hope may not be lost.

The removal of the form on 1 April 2027 opens the door to some claims that may otherwise have been missed, provided they reflect on work conducted in accounting periods that ended 1 April 2025 or later.

The Government aims to streamline the R&D tax relief process with this change and it is difficult to think of a way in which the removal of the ANF will make matters more complicated.

How will streamlining R&D tax relief claims enable accountants to better help clients with R&D?

One of the main reasons for accountants walking away from R&D tax relief support is the perceived difficulty of engaging with it.

This has been mirrored by innovative businesses themselves, many of whom have given up on the idea of submitting a claim for fear that it will cost too much time or too many resources.

With the removal of the ANF, it may be that accountants and innovators are better able to see the benefits of the R&D tax relief scheme and better engage with it going forward.

This could lead to more first-time claims and a resurgence in claims from SMEs to counter the steady decline that has been present in the recent sets of statistics.

The changes to the AIF are yet to be fully revealed, but it will be interesting to see how this process can be further streamlined without running the risk of opening the door to error and fraud.

Our team of expert R&D tax consultants remain on hand to support accountants and innovators as they look to the future of R&D tax relief claims.

This assistance may be particularly helpful if the changes bring about the expected upswing in first-time claims, as these can be more challenging to handle given the lack of familiarity with what HMRC is looking to see from a valid claim.

As well as supporting the compilation of the original R&D tax relief claim, we can also defend legitimate claims from enquiry and preserve the full scope of valid costs contained within.

Look to the future of R&D tax relief claims with confidence by speaking to our team today.

Adam Bointon

Adam Bointon is a Technical Director specialising in R&D Tax Credits for SMEs in manufacturing and software sectors. With over 15 years’ experience, he works closely with businesses to identify qualifying R&D activities and prepare clear, compliant claims. He combines technical expertise with a strong understanding of economics and finance to support successful outcomes. Adam also contributes to industry webinars and CPD sessions, sharing insights on R&D tax relief and HMRC requirements.