R&D Tax Credit Estimator
Get a directional estimate of your R&D tax credit using HMRC's post-April 2023 merged scheme rules, including the R&D-intensive enhanced rate.
Your R&D spend (2025/26)
Enter the components of your R&D-qualifying expenditure. Only include staff time, subcontractor cost, consumables and software/cloud genuinely used for R&D activity.
All expenditure for the year. Used to test R&D intensity.
Gross salary + employer NI + pension of staff doing qualifying R&D, apportioned.
UK subcontractor invoices for R&D work. HMRC caps claim at 65% of this.
Materials, prototypes, items consumed in the R&D process.
SaaS licences, cloud compute (AWS, GCP), GPU rental used for R&D work.
Estimated R&D credit
Gross credit (above-the-line)
£37,200
Net benefit (after CT)
£27,900
Rate applied: 20% (standard merged scheme)
Qualifying expenditure: £186,000 (23.3% of total)
How the calculation works
- 1. Qualifying expenditure = staff R&D + 65% of subcontractors + consumables + software
- 2. Credit rate = 20% standard, or 27% if R&D spend is 40%+ of total expenditure
- 3. Gross credit = qualifying expenditure × credit rate
- 4. Net benefit = gross credit × (1 - 25% corporation tax) = the cash impact
Directional estimate only. Actual claims involve scoping, PAYE/NI cap (where applicable), apportionment of staff time, and specific qualifying-activity tests. Book a free call for a tailored assessment.
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We've processed R&D claims for AI, SaaS, performance marketing and digital agencies into six figures. Book a free call and we'll review your projects for genuine qualifying activity.
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