If your company already claims R&D tax relief, we will read your most recent claim and give you a straight professional opinion on it, free of charge and in confidence, under a mutual NDA as standard. If the claim looks sound, we will tell you so. If something looks wrong, we will explain what and why, and what you do with that is entirely up to you.
Why review a claim HMRC has already paid?
Because payment is not approval. HMRC processes most R&D claims when they are filed and asks its questions afterwards, sometimes long after the money has been received and spent. A company that has been paid year after year can reasonably conclude its claims must be sound. That conclusion does not follow, and it is one of the most expensive misunderstandings in R&D tax: HMRC now checks roughly one in six claims, and when an enquiry opens, problems that were invisible for years surface all at once. Relief that should not have been claimed can be repaid with interest, and in some cases with penalties, years after the event.
A review now costs you nothing and tells you where you actually stand, while there is still time to put things right calmly under proper advice, or simply to know your position is defensible.
What we look for
The problems in R&D claims run in both directions. Some claims include too much; others leave money behind. We read for both:
- Whether the projects described actually meet the definition of qualifying R&D, or whether commercial development has been dressed up as research
- Whether the technical narrative demonstrates an advance and genuine uncertainty, or reads like marketing copy, which is a common trigger for HMRC questions
- Costs that should not be there: ineligible categories, misclassified subcontractors and workers, grant and contracted-out complications
- Qualifying expenditure that has been missed, which is more common than most companies expect
- Procedure: claim notification, the Additional Information Form, the scheme position and the PAYE cap
How it works
- Confidentiality first. We sign a mutual NDA before we see anything, your information is handled under it throughout, and we will not contact your current adviser at any stage.
- A short set of terms sets the basis. The review is free, so the terms and the NDA record what it is: a high-level professional opinion on the documents you provide, for your information, not a re-preparation of the claim.
- You send the claim pack. Typically the technical report, the cost schedules and the Additional Information Form from your most recent claim.
- A chartered adviser signs off what we found and walks you through it. You get plain answers: what looks sound, what concerns us and why.
What happens after
Whatever you decide. Raise what we found with your current adviser; if you want to share the written summary with them, ask us and we will normally agree. If you would rather we handled your next claim, or an enquiry that is already open, we will set out exactly what that involves and what it costs before you commit to anything. And if the claim is in good shape, you will hear that too: reassurance is a perfectly good outcome for both of us.
Why we do this without charging
Because it is the most honest way to show you how we work. Some companies who ask for a review become clients; that is the commercial logic, and we would rather state it than pretend otherwise. Others leave reassured about the adviser they already have. Both outcomes are fine with us, and you will get the same straight answer either way.
The basis of the review
So there is no small print to hunt for, this is the deal: the review is a high-level professional opinion based on the documents you give us. It is not formal tax advice, it does not re-perform the claim, and it does not replace your existing adviser’s engagement. The short set of terms and the mutual NDA you receive at the start set this out properly. Confidential under the NDA, free, and without obligation.
If you claim R&D tax relief and have never had an independent pair of eyes on it, get in touch or call 0330 223 4 223 and mention the claim review.
Written by Matthew Jones ACA CTA. Last reviewed July 2026.
