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Unclaimed
Discovery tool, not advice. Every figure is the published rule, not a decision on your case.
Tax credits

Merged R&D expenditure credit scheme (merged RDEC)

Status

Open continuously

No deadline — apply whenever you are ready.

Always open
Amount
Not published

Taxable expenditure credit worth 20% of qualifying R&D expenditure, for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2024. No fixed cap, but the credit received in a period cannot exceed the PAYE cap of £20,000 plus 300% of the company's relevant PAYE and NIC liabilities (excess carried forward). Replaced the old RDEC and SME schemes.

Funder

HM Revenue & Customs

public · national

Deadline: Open all year — Claimed through the Company Tax Return. Claim notification and an additional information form are required before/with the claim.

Your odds
Not published

This funder does not publish a success rate. We rank it using the rate observed across similar programmes and label it as an estimate rather than implying we know.

Effort
moderate

Moderate — a form and supporting documents.

Who can apply

Company must be trading and chargeable to UK Corporation Tax. Restrictions apply to some overseas expenditure. Different rates apply to ring-fenced (oil, gas and mining) trades.

How to apply

  1. Check your project meets the HMRC definition of R&D (advance in science or technology resolving scientific or technological uncertainty). — link
  2. Check whether you must tell HMRC in advance that you plan to claim (claim notification). — link
  3. Submit the additional information form before or at the same time as the claim. — link
  4. Claim the expenditure credit in your Company Tax Return.

What you will need

Related reading: How grant deadlines actually work · R&D tax credit vs. grant: the difference that changes your claim

Apply on the funder's site

Source. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/research-and-development-rd-tax-relief-the-merged-scheme-and-enhanced-rd-intensive-support

"The rate of R&D expenditure credit under the merged RDEC scheme is 20%."

Verified on 14 August 2026

Source: www.gov.uk

Similar programmes

Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS)

Open continuously

HM Revenue & Customs

Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS)

Open continuously

HM Revenue & Customs

Enhanced R&D intensive support (ERIS) for loss-making R&D intensive SMEs

Open continuously

HM Revenue & Customs

Patent Box

Open continuously

HM Revenue & Customs

R&D expenditure credit (RDEC) for accounting periods beginning before 1 April 2024

Closed for now

HM Revenue & Customs

R&D tax relief (merged RDEC scheme and Enhanced R&D Intensive Support)

Status not published

HM Revenue and Customs

Paid, separate from Unclaimed

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