Research and development (R&D) tax relief has proven to be a powerful catalyst in fostering innovation for businesses across the UK, with the latest figures from HMRC revealing that the UK claimed a record £7.6bn in total relief for the 2021-2022 tax year.  

However, in early 2021, a consultation was launched to reform the scheme, triggered by increasing concerns of abuse.

After several rounds of technical consultation, the government indicated in late 2022 that its ultimate goal was to merge the existing two schemes, with the intention of streamlining the incentive and helping to protect it from abuse in the future.