The small print

Important information regarding this guidance

References in this guide to 'you' and 'your' refer to the company claiming R&D tax credits, not to its directors, participators or advisers.

It is particularly important to note that there have been a number of changes to the rules since the schemes were introduced. These changes came into effect at different times. The overview given here represents the rules as they stood at 1 January 2005 (the date of the last legislative change) and remain current as of today. Tool C is a summary of the dates of the legislative changes.

To simplify this overview, discussion of the issues is abbreviated. Therefore this guide should not be taken as an authoritative statement of the law; full detail is provided in HMRC's Corporate Intangibles Research and Development (CIRD) manual, to which references are provided throughout this guide, and in the relevant legislation.

The CIRD is HMRC's guidance to its staff regarding the meaning of the relevant legislation. You can expect HMRC to act according to the guidance in CIRD.

Pages of the CIRD give references for the relevant parts of the legislation under which R&D tax reliefs are given. So if you wish to see the underlying legislation CIRD will help you to find it.

This guidance is intended to help small and medium sized businesses understand and benefit from R&D tax reliefs. If you have any comments or suggestions about this guidance please send them to:

Jeremy Sherwood
Room 3/36
HM Revenue & Customs
Corporation Tax and Value Added Tax product and process group
100 Parliament Street
London
SW1A 2BQ

Email: Jeremy Sherwood