HMRC have recently provided more details around the pause in Research & Development Tax Credit (R&D) payments earlier in the year. They’ve also given an expected target turnaround time for future claims.

We explained in this earlier post that payments were paused to allow time for HMRC to investigate ‘irregular claims’.

The good news is that payments started again in May 2022, but every claim now needs to go through an additional approvals process before it can be paid. As payments restarted, there was a backlog of 8,000 claims for review.

HMRC expected to be able to process 80% of claims within 40 days of receipt by the end of August. As yet we’ve not heard whether they achieved this goal!

HMRC have again asked that claimants don’t chase their claims by contacting HMRC, but check their online account for updates.

As ever, if you have any questions around R&D Tax credits, please get in touch. We can ensure your claim is valid and well constructed to reduce the likelihood of any additional questions from HMRC and related delays once it’s submitted.