Budget 2026: what it means for you and your business —
In short
R&D tax relief rewards companies that seek an advance in science or technology by resolving genuine scientific or technological uncertainty. It remains valuable — but HMRC scrutiny has intensified sharply, and a poorly evidenced claim is now a liability rather than an opportunity. LMJ Group assesses whether your activity genuinely qualifies, prepares properly evidenced claims with the required additional information, and will tell you plainly when a claim is not worth making.
The statutory test is narrower than most people assume. Your project must seek an advance in science or technology — not merely an advance for your own business — by resolving scientific or technological uncertainty that a competent professional in the field could not readily resolve.
Usually qualifies: developing genuinely novel software architecture; creating a new material, process or device; substantially improving performance where the route is not obvious.
Usually does not: implementing existing technology in a new setting; routine software development or configuration; cosmetic or aesthetic improvement; market research; simply being first in *your* industry to adopt something that already exists elsewhere.
The honest answer for many businesses is that some of their work qualifies and much of it does not. Identifying the boundary correctly is the whole job.
Because a great deal of money was claimed that should not have been. A generation of contingent-fee “R&D specialists” submitted claims on activity that never met the statutory test, and HMRC has responded with a substantial compliance programme.
In practice this means: a mandatory additional information form before the claim, advance notification requirements for companies new to claiming, detailed technical narratives, and a real prospect of enquiry. Claims submitted without proper technical evidence are being rejected and penalised.
It identifies the specific scientific or technological uncertainties faced, explains why a competent professional could not readily resolve them, describes the work done to try to resolve them, and links the qualifying expenditure to that work — with contemporaneous evidence, not a narrative reverse-engineered from the accounts.
It is written by people who understand both the technology and the legislation, and it is submitted with the required additional information. That is a slower process than a claims factory offers. It is also one that survives an enquiry.
We defend R&D claims under enquiry, including claims we did not prepare. If a previous adviser submitted a claim that does not stand up, the position needs assessing honestly and early — a considered voluntary correction is almost always a better outcome than defending the indefensible.
See also our Tax Investigations & HMRC Enquiries service.
We work on fixed fees, not a percentage of your claim — so we have no incentive to inflate one. If your activity does not meet the statutory test, we will say so. That advice is worth more than a claim that HMRC later reverses with penalties.
Fixed fees, not contingent — no incentive to overstate a claim.
Conservative and evidenced — claims built to survive an HMRC enquiry.
We say no when the activity does not qualify. Many advisers will not.
We defend claims under enquiry, including ones we did not prepare.
Chartered (ICAEW) — accountable, and here next year to stand behind the claim.
This page provides general information about the 2026/27 UK tax year and is not advice on your particular circumstances. Tax and regulatory rules change frequently. Please contact us before acting, or refraining from acting, on anything set out here. LMJ Group is a firm of Chartered Accountants regulated by the ICAEW. LMJ Group is not a registered auditor and does not provide audit services. Last reviewed: July 2026.
