Top Five Tips For Avoiding An R&D Tax Credits Enquiry

R&D enquiries are on the rise due to HMRC clamping down on fraudulent R&D claims. However, legitimate claimants are unfortunately caught up in this process, which can be costly and time-consuming to resolve. We share how to reduce your chance of an R&D enquiry here.

With the Research and Development (R&D) scheme rising in popularity over the years and offering cash payments to the claimant company, it's no surprise that it has been targeted by fraudsters. Last year alone, HMRC predicted around £49 million of fraud occurring within the scheme. As a result, HMRC has employed over 1,000 new compliance staff to tackle fraud and error in the scheme.

Tax inspectors are now tasked with identifying fraudulent claims. However, HMRC seems to be picking up genuine claimants and are opening a significant number of checks based on automated risk checks or random selection.