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Understanding HMRC’s R&D tax claim rules, this guide defines a "competent professional," key criteria, and how to ensure compliance.
Part of HMRC’s eligibility guidance for R&D tax claims specifies that your uncertainties must not be “readily deducible by a competent professional”. But what counts as competent?
HMRC is clear that your projects need to rest on the expertise of a competent professional to qualify. This ensures that projects have genuine uncertainty and are not just a case of the company bringing itself up to speed with the rest of the industry. A project undertaken by a junior staff member could be confused with R&D if the staff member does not have enough experience to identify solutions to uncertainties quickly.
Someone on your team should be able to:
These key staff or contractors can demonstrate how a project advances beyond what is generally possible within your field's state-of-the-art. They should have worked directly on the project and would usually have helped prepare the information required to make a claim.
A common mistake is assuming that the most senior company member is the most relevant and competent professional for the project’s work.
For example:
Company A is a textile company that contracts a software development company, Company B, to develop software for their stock management.
The Chief Executive Officer of Company A does not have experience in the field of Information Technology and is not able to identify a valid advance. Even the CEO of Company B is no longer actively working in development and has limited experience in the technologies used in the stock management software built. Company B has a technical lead with significant experience in stock management software lead the project, and they identify an advance in technology is required for this project to proceed.
In this case, the most relevant person for the role of the competent professional within the claim will be the technical lead working on and directly overseeing the project from Company B.
Your scientific or technological leads may have academic or professional qualifications and significant practical experience in the overall field, ideally on projects with similar objectives. They should know the scientific or technological principles and have a good general knowledge of the field.
As per a recent ruling, a competent professional can be somebody qualified by experience, i.e., someone without academic or professional qualifications.
Good evidence may include:
Some experts in a particular field may disagree on genuine advances or uncertainties. However, where the opinion of a competent professional is clearly communicated with a strong foundation in the field, HMRC should accept the position.
With R&D tax compliance checks on the rise, we’ve seen HMRC query a claim’s competent professional as a standard part of this process. When a competent professional has not been identified, or cannot clearly demonstrate a project’s advance, HMRC state that they have “reduced the value of some claims to zero”.
Detailing your competent professional isn’t required for submission but is often pre-emptively done by claimants. The details of each professional do not need to be exceptionally long but must demonstrate their competence level in the scientific or technological field.
For example:
Jane Bloggs, Principal Researcher – BSc, Biochemistry, 15 years of experience in pharmaceutical development, expertise in oncology and primary research
Joe Bloggs, Senior Software Developer – BSc, Computer Science, MSc, Computer Science, Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist, 10 years of experience in IT, expertise in CRM systems development
Jim Bloggs, Chief Technology Officer – 30 years of experience in manufacturing commercial glass products, experience with comparable projects, such as the development of laminated curved glass
HMRC may also ask for an explanation directly from the competent professional to explain why the uncertainty was not easily resolved.
At Myriad, we’ve been including these details in our claims for as long as we’ve been making them. With over 20 years of experience in R&D tax, we’re happy to answer any questions you may have.
In fact, we’re so confident in our claims, we have a zero-risk guarantee.
Our promise to you is simple: we stand firmly behind our advice. If a claim submitted by us is challenged, we'll defend it free of charge. If it is rejected, we won't charge you any fees. We'll cover any HMRC penalties and even compensate you for your time.
Get in touch with the experts at Myriad to ensure your claim is compliant.
A scientific or technological advance is critical for making an R&D tax relief claim. But what is an advance?
Understanding HMRC’s R&D tax claim rules, this guide defines a "competent professional," key criteria, and how to ensure compliance.
This facility has been designed to make it easy for customers, or their agents, to disclose inaccuracies in R&D claims.
Please contact us to discuss how working with Myriad can maximise and secure R&D funding opportunities for your business.
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