R&D Tax Relief Calculator 2024/25
Estimate your R&D tax credit or enhanced deduction. Covers the merged RDEC scheme (from April 2024), the legacy SME enhanced deduction, and payable credits for loss-making companies.
R&D Tax Relief Calculator
Estimate your R&D tax benefit — merged RDEC or legacy SME scheme
R&D scheme
Staff costs, consumables, software, cloud costs directly attributable to R&D
Under SME legacy scheme, only 65% of unconnected subcontractor payments qualify
This is an estimate only. R&D claims require detailed technical and financial justification. Consult a specialist R&D tax advisor.
R&D Tax Relief Schemes 2024/25
Merged RDEC Scheme (April 2024 onwards)
A single scheme for most companies providing a 20% above-the-line credit. R&D-intensive SMEs (qualifying spend ≥ 30% of total costs) receive 27%. The credit is treated as a receipt, reducing your CT bill and refundable if it exceeds it. Effective net benefit after CT: approximately 15% of qualifying spend.
Legacy SME Scheme (pre-April 2024)
Enhanced deduction of 86%of qualifying costs. For every £100 of R&D spend, you could deduct £186 from taxable profit — saving ~21.5p per £1 at the 25% main rate. Loss-making companies could surrender losses for a 10% payable credit.
What Qualifies?
- Staff costs (salaries, NIC, employer pension contributions)
- Consumables used in the R&D process
- Software licences directly used in R&D
- Cloud computing and data costs (from April 2023)
- 65% of payments to unconnected subcontractors (SME scheme)
Subcontractor Adjustment
Under the SME scheme, only 65% of payments to unconnected subcontractors count as qualifying expenditure. Under the merged RDEC scheme, contractor payments can qualify in full in certain circumstances. Always confirm eligible costs with a specialist R&D tax advisor.