Insights
The fine print, decoded.
Plain-English guidance on R&D tax relief — written by people who prepare and defend claims every day.
14 published
28 September 2026 How to Read an HMRC Compliance Check Letter: What They're Really Asking Most people read a compliance check letter the way they'd read a parking notice: quickly, defensively, looking only for the deadline and the worst-case scenario. 
21 September 2026 What the Merged R&D Scheme Means for SMEs Claiming for the First Time The merged R&D scheme replaced the SME scheme for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2024. Here is what changed, what a claim is actually worth now, and the notification deadline that can invalidate a first claim before it is written. 
14 September 2026 What to Do When You Receive an HMRC Compliance Check Letter An HMRC compliance check letter for an R&D tax claim almost always arrives at an inconvenient moment. It lands in the middle of a build week or the day before a board meeting, written in language that manages to be both formal and vague. 
7 September 2026 When Does It Make Sense to Outsource Your R&D Tax Claim vs. Doing It In-House? Every growing engineering or technology business eventually reaches the same crossroads: R&D activity is increasing, the relief is significant, and someone in finance asks the obvious question — should we build this capability internally or bring in a specialist? There's no single right answer.
31 August 2026 What Should Your R&D Tax Adviser Actually Be Doing? A Checklist for Business Owners Here is a practical checklist. It is not a pitch for our own service; these are the things any competent R&D tax adviser should be doing for you, regardless of who you use
24 August 2026 A care home, the pandemic, and an £880,000 R&D claim that failed On 6 August 2026, the First-tier Tribunal dismissed an appeal by Tanglewood Care Services Limited against HMRC's decision to remove an R&D tax relief claim worth £880,286. 
13 July 2026 The HMRC R&D Crackdown: What’s Changed and Where Scrutiny Is Focused in 2025/26 If you filed an R&D tax claim more than a couple of years ago and you’re now due to file another, don’t expect the same process. 
2 July 2026 What Actually Counts as R&D for Tax Purposes? A Plain-English Guide If you run an engineering business, a software company, or a manufacturer pushing the boundaries of what's technically possible, there's a good chance you're already doing research 
2 May 2025 Why HMRC Enquiry Rates Into R&D Claims Are Rising — And What It Means For You A few years ago, an R&D tax credit claim landing on HMRC's desk was unlikely to attract a second look. That's no longer the world we operate in. 
3 October 2024 You Think You Qualify for R&D Tax Relief? R&D tax relief is an extremely valuable incentive for innovative businesses, which is precisely why it is so frequently misunderstood and misapplied. 
5 April 2024 HMRC Increase Compliance Checks for R&D Tax Credit Claims HMRC has significantly increased its level of scrutiny of R&D tax credit claims. 
10 November 2022 Reforms to Research and Development (R&D) Tax Reliefs In the Autumn Statement delivered in November 2022, the government announced significant reforms to the UK’s R&D tax relief schemes. 
18 September 2020 HMRC Enquiry: Why They Happen, How Long They Last, and How to Prepare Your Response Correctly An HMRC enquiry can feel daunting — but if your R&D tax relief claim has been prepared correctly, it does not need to be a cause for concern. 
1 July 2020 R&D Tax Credits for Loss Making Innovators Many clients and prospective clients wrongly believe that they are unable to make an R&D Tax Claim because they made a loss and didn’t pay any tax in the financial year. Get in touch