If you thought you’d lost out on claiming R&D tax credits because you’d missed the deadline for submitting the Claim Notification Form (CNF), some good news was released yesterday! HMRC, under specific circumstances, is offering companies a second chance to claim.
Why is this happening?
When HMRC first introduced the Claim Notification Form (CNF) requirement, they explained that companies needed to pre-notify if they hadn’t made an R&D claim in the past three years or if it was their first R&D tax credit claim.
However, they failed to explain that R&D claims made via an amended Company Tax Return, submitted on or after 1 April 2023 for an accounting period beginning before 1 April 2023, would not count as a previous claim.
This missing detail appeared in HMRC’s guidance (CIRD183000) between 8 September 2024 and 17 October 2024, and was later admitted as an error. As a result, some companies may have believed they didn’t need to submit a CNF when technically they did.
To correct this, HMRC is offering a process to allow eligible companies to submit their R&D claims without having submitted a CNF.
Who can benefit?
HMRC will now allow companies to proceed with an R&D claim even if a CNF wasn’t submitted, but only if both of the following conditions are met:
- A valid R&D claim was made in an amended return for an accounting period beginning before 1 April 2023, and that amendment was submitted between 1 April 2023 and 30 November 2024.
- The accounting period for which a CNF should have been delivered had a notification period ending between 8 September 2024 and 30 November 2024.
What do you need to do?
If you think you’re affected, you’ll need to email HMRC’s R&D Policy team at [email protected] with the subject line ‘CIRD183000 notification’.
You’ll need to provide:
- Evidence of authority to act on behalf of the company,
- The company name and Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR),
- The date the amended return containing the R&D claim was submitted,
- The accounting period that was not notified,
- The period of account that the accounting period formed a part of,
- Confirmation that the company accepts the risks of communicating by email, along with names and email addresses of those to be contacted.
HMRC will then review the information and invite companies to submit their R&D claim if the conditions are met. All claims will still be subject to HMRC’s usual review processes.
Get in touch
If your accounting periods ended between March and May 2024 and you didn’t pre-notify, it’s worth checking your records carefully. You may still have time to save your R&D tax relief claim.
Need help reviewing your position? Get in touch with one of our experts today.
