Pre-notification for R&D Tax Relief

What the Autumn Budget changes, and who still needs to notify

At the Autumn Budget on 28 October 2026, the Government announced it will remove the R&D claim notification form requirement for claims made on or after 1 April 2027.

Companies should continue to meet any applicable notification deadlines before 1 April 2027. Below, we explain the current requirements, how to calculate the deadline and what the announced change means in practice.

What is R&D claim notification?

Claim notification, often called pre-notification, applies to accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2023. It covers every R&D scheme, including the merged R&D expenditure credit (RDEC) scheme, enhanced R&D intensive support (ERIS) and the old SME and RDEC schemes.

A company must notify HMRC through the online claim notification form in either of these situations.

It is claiming R&D relief for the first time.
It has not made an R&D claim in the three years before the last date of its claim notification period.

However, a separate notification is not required if the company submits a valid R&D claim within the claim notification period.

A claim history does not always mean a company is exempt. Notification may still be needed where HMRC rejected an earlier claim, or where the company made its last claim by amending a return for a period beginning before 1 April 2023 and HMRC received the amendment on or after 1 April 2023.

Missing a required notification deadline can prevent an otherwise eligible R&D claim from being accepted. Companies intending to claim R&D tax relief should check whether notification is required well before the deadline.

What did the Autumn Budget announce?

The Government will remove the claim notification requirement for R&D claims made on or after 1 April 2027. The purpose of this is to reduce administrative burdens while retaining other safeguards, including the additional information form (AIF) and HMRC compliance activity. For businesses, it should reduce the risk of otherwise eligible claims being prevented by a notification oversight.

The AIF will remain in place, but the Government plans to simplify the information it requires from autumn 2027.

Who still needs to notify before April 2027?

The existing notification requirements continue to apply to claims made before 1 April 2027. HMRC guidance states that claims made on or after that date, including claims made by amendment, will no longer require notification. Companies should continue to meet any applicable notification deadlines in the meantime. The change does not extend the normal time limit for making an R&D claim.

Companies whose notification deadlines fall before 1 April 2027 should check their position now. For example, a company with a 12-month period of account ending on 30 September 2026 has a notification deadline of 31 March 2027.

How and when to pre-notify

If pre-notification is required, the company must submit it through the HMRC online form within its claim notification period. That period starts on the first day of the period of account and ends six months after the end of the period of account.

Where notification is required, failing to submit it within six months of the end of the period of account will generally invalidate the R&D claim.

Important definitions

Accounting period: The time covered by your company tax return, which cannot be more than 12 months.

Period of account: The time covered by your company’s financial statements, which could be longer than 12 months.

To complete the R&D claim notification form, you will need to the following details:

The company unique taxpayer reference (UTR)
Contact details for the main senior internal R&D contact, for example a company director
Contact details of all agents involved in the R&D claim
The start and end dates of the accounting period
The start and end dates of the period of account
A summary of the high-level planned R&D activities

Example one: a 12-month period of account

A company prepares accounts for the year to 31 December 2026. Its period of account and its accounting period both run from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026.

Its claim notification period runs from 1 January 2026 to 30 June 2027.

The notification window straddles 1 April 2027. If the company submits its R&D claim within the claim notification period, a separate claim notification is not required. Under the announced change, claims made on or after 1 April 2027 will no longer require notification.

Where there is any doubt about timing, we recommend checking whether notification is required and submitting it within the applicable deadline.

Example two: a period of account longer than 12 months

A company changes its year end. It prepares one set of accounts for the 15 months from 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2026.

The period of account spans two Corporation Tax accounting periods, each requiring a separate company tax return.

The first accounting period runs from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.
The second accounting period runs from 1 April 2026 to 30 June 2026.

The claim notification period runs from 1 April 2025 to 31 December 2026, six months after the end of the period of account. The same deadline applies to both accounting periods, and one claim notification form covers both.

The common mistake is to work from the first accounting period. Six months after 31 March 2026 is 30 September 2026, so a company using that date would assume its deadline had passed. In fact, it has until 31 December 2026. If notification is required, the company should submit it by that date rather than rely on the forthcoming change.

If the company claims R&D relief for both accounting periods, it must submit a separate additional information form for each.

The additional information form still applies

Every company making an R&D claim must submit an AIF before submitting the company tax return, or amended return, containing the claim. Both can be submitted on the same day, but the AIF must be submitted first.

From autumn 2027, HMRC plans to rationalise the AIF by reducing unnecessary duplication, improving the information requested on contracting and externally provided workers and clarifying the requirements for project information and the ERIS intensity ratio. The AIF will remain mandatory, and the current requirements continue to apply until any changes are introduced.

For the wider picture, read our summary of R&D tax relief changes, updated for the Autumn Budget.

If you have questions about claim notification or your R&D claim, contact our R&D specialists using the form below.

We always recommend that you seek advice from a suitably qualified adviser before taking any action. The information on this page is intended as a general guide only. While we work to keep our content accurate and up to date, we cannot guarantee that it reflects the position at the time you are reading it. No responsibility for loss occasioned by any person acting or refraining from action as a result of this material can be accepted by the authors or the firm. For more information on our editorial process, click here.

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