The numbers, by jurisdiction.
Ireland — 35%, refundable
Following Budget 2026, Ireland's R&D Corporation Tax Credit is 35% of qualifying expenditure, up from 30%. Critically it is refundable in cash over three annual instalments, whether or not your company pays corporation tax. The first-year payment threshold rose from €75,000 to €87,500.
For a pre-revenue company spending €200,000 a year on qualifying development, that is a €70,000 credit — payable even at a loss. It is one of the most generous regimes in Europe and it is routinely under-claimed by small companies who assume it's only for laboratories.
United Kingdom — 20% merged RDEC
For accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2024 the UK operates a single merged R&D expenditure credit at 20%, replacing the old separate SME and RDEC schemes.
Loss-making, R&D-intensive SMEs can instead claim Enhanced R&D Intensive Support: an additional 86% deduction on qualifying costs (186% in total) and a payable credit worth up to 14.5% of the surrenderable loss. To qualify as R&D-intensive, at least 30% of total expenditure must be qualifying R&D — a threshold most early-stage product companies clear without difficulty.
What actually qualifies.
The test is not "was this difficult" or "was this new to us". It is whether the work sought to resolve a scientific or technological uncertainty that a competent professional in the field could not readily have deduced.
✓ Usually qualifies
- Designing a novel algorithm where no established approach existed
- Solving performance or scalability problems whose resolution wasn't foreseeable
- Building infrastructure to handle data volumes or latency that off-the-shelf tools couldn't
- Integrating systems in ways that required genuinely new technical work, not documented API calls
- Developing new methods of data processing, encryption, or machine learning where the outcome was uncertain
- Prototyping that failed — unsuccessful work still qualifies if the uncertainty was real
✕ Usually doesn't
- Building a conventional web or mobile application with established frameworks
- Standard CRUD interfaces, dashboards and admin panels
- Configuring, customising or integrating documented third-party APIs
- Cosmetic or user-interface work, however time-consuming
- Market research, business analysis, or writing documentation
- Work where a competent professional in the field could readily deduce the solution
How a claim works.
Why claim quality matters more than it used to.
HMRC has substantially increased its scrutiny of software R&D claims following years of aggressive selling by claims firms working on contingency. A generic narrative that describes ordinary development work in scientific-sounding language is now a reliable way to attract an enquiry — and enquiries are expensive, slow, and can end with the relief clawed back plus penalties.
We only file claims we would be prepared to defend, and we tell you plainly when we think the work doesn't qualify. That is occasionally an unwelcome conversation. It is a great deal cheaper than the alternative.
Contemporaneous records help enormously: design documents, technical spikes, commit history, and notes on approaches that were tried and abandoned. If you're mid-year and think you may claim, start keeping them now rather than reconstructing the story later.
R&D tax credit questions.
How much is the R&D tax credit worth in Ireland?
Following Budget 2026 the Irish R&D Corporation Tax Credit is 35% of qualifying expenditure, up from 30%. It is refundable in cash over three annual instalments even if your company is loss-making, and the first-year payment threshold increased from €75,000 to €87,500.
How much is the R&D tax credit worth in the UK?
For accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2024 the UK operates a merged R&D expenditure credit at 20%. Loss-making, R&D-intensive SMEs may instead claim Enhanced R&D Intensive Support, which gives an additional 86% deduction on qualifying costs and a payable credit worth up to 14.5% of the surrenderable loss.
What counts as R&D-intensive in the UK?
A company qualifies as R&D-intensive where its relevant R&D expenditure is at least 30% of its total expenditure. Many early-stage software and product companies clear this comfortably because development is their largest cost.
Does software development qualify for R&D relief?
Only where it seeks to resolve genuine scientific or technological uncertainty that a competent professional in the field could not readily deduce. Building a conventional web application or integrating documented APIs is not R&D. Novel algorithms, significant performance or scalability problems, and work where the technical outcome was genuinely uncertain often are.
Can a loss-making company still claim?
Yes, and it is often where the relief matters most. Ireland's credit is repayable in cash over three annual instalments regardless of whether corporation tax is payable. In the UK, Enhanced R&D Intensive Support provides a payable credit to loss-making R&D-intensive SMEs.
How risky is an R&D claim?
HMRC has sharply increased its scrutiny of software claims in recent years, and a weak or generic technical narrative invites an enquiry. A well-documented claim tied to specific technical uncertainties, with contemporaneous records of the work, is a very different proposition from a speculative one.
Keep reading.
Find out whether you have a claim.
A free 30-minute call is usually enough to tell whether it's worth pursuing.
Rates and thresholds stated on this page were correct as of August 2026 and are drawn from Revenue and HMRC guidance. Tax legislation changes; this page is general information, not advice for your specific circumstances.