UK R&D tax relief specialists who already know your group, so every qualifying cost makes it into your claim.
Already a Caribou customer?
We already hold your entities, people and intercompany flows from your transfer pricing, so your claim takes an hour or 2 of your time.
Your time on an R&D claim
We already hold your entities, payroll and intercompany costs, so qualifying spend a standalone adviser can't see makes it into your claim.
Transfer pricing and R&D with the same team. One relationship, one set of data, and no re-explaining your group.
Claim notification and Additional Information Form handled, and we help answer HMRC's questions on every claim we prepare.
Our R&D experts have prepared over 4,000 UK claims and overseen more than 1,000 HMRC compliance checks.
From the team trusted by multi-entity companies for transfer pricing
First-time claimants must tell HMRC within 6 months of their year end. Every claim must be made within 2 years.The credit is claimed with your return. Missed it? You can generally amend returns from the last 3 years.
Day 0
Year end
The clock starts
+6 months
Claim notification
First-time or lapsed claimants
Weeks
Report & forms
Narratives, AIF
+2 years
Final deadline
Filed with your return
Payout
Cash or credit
Refund or less tax
Day 0
Tax year end
Costs for the year set
Weeks
Study & Section G
Project detail
~3.5 months
Return + Form 6765
Extensions possible
+3 years
Amend window
Claim missed years
Payout
Credit lands
Income or payroll tax
From working out what qualifies to answering HMRC'sthe IRS's questions. One team does the work. All your accountant needs to do is file it.
If a competent developer couldn't readily solve the problem with what's already known, there's a good chance it counts. Software is the biggest sector claiming.
Mostly people, plus the cloud, data and contractors used directly in the work.
Developers overseas? Since April 2024, overseas contractor costs generally don't count. We already work across your group, so we know exactly what still qualifies.Developers overseas? Only US research counts for the federal credit. We already work across your group, so we map exactly what qualifies.
Most tech companies under-claim R&D relief, or don't claim at all. Profitable or loss-making, our free estimate shows you what you're leaving on the table.
If you're profitable
~15%
of qualifying spend off your corporation tax, under the merged scheme
If you're loss-making
~27%
of qualifying spend as cash paid to you
If you're profitable
§41
federal credit against income tax, often plus state credits
If you're a startup
$500k
a year offset against payroll tax, under $5m receipts
HMRC treats software claims as high risk. Claims written around business goals, not the technical problem, are the ones that fail.Since 2024 the IRS wants project-level detail on Form 6765. Vague, top-down claims are the ones that get challenged.
20 minutes. We check you qualify and give you a rough figure.
Mostly from documents you already have. Your engineers stay on the roadmap.
Technical and financial narratives, claim notification and Additional Information Form.Credit study, Section G detail and Form 6765.
That's all they need to do. It goes in with your return, and you get the cash or the credit.
Yes, if the work aims to resolve a technical uncertainty that a competent developer couldn't readily solve with existing knowledge. New architectures, scaling problems and novel ML work often qualify. Routine development and configuration don't.
It can. Plenty of product work involves genuine technical problems along the way. Our experts look at what your team actually solved and write it up, so your engineers don't have to.
Keep them. All your accountant needs to do is file it. We prepare the technical and financial narratives, which is the part that decides whether a claim stands up.
Claiming doesn't mean you'll be investigated, but software claims get extra scrutiny. A well-evidenced claim is the best protection, and we help answer questions on every claim we prepare.
For accounting periods starting from April 2024, overseas contractor costs generally don't qualify, with narrow exceptions. Your UK employees' costs still count.Only research done in the US qualifies for the federal credit, and foreign R&D costs are spread over 15 years.
Yes. Loss-making companies can receive the credit as cash, worth around 27% of qualifying spend.Yes. Startups with under $5m in receipts can offset up to $500k a year against payroll tax.
Up to 2 years from the end of the accounting period, as long as any required claim notification was made within 6 months.You can generally amend returns from the last 3 years to claim credits you missed.
A rough engineering headcount, total payroll, cloud and data spend, and a sense of what you built this year. Ballpark figures are fine.
Most companies under-claim, or don't claim at all. A free 20-minute estimate call shows you what you could be getting.
