Guidance

Check if you can apply for advance assurance for your Research and Development (R&D) tax relief claim

Ask HMRC for assurance on your Research and Development (R&D) tax relief claim, or particular areas of it, if you're a small or medium-sized enterprise.

• From: HM Revenue & Customs
• Published: 30 November 2015
• Last updated: 18 May 2026
  Show all updates

  1. 18 May 2026

     Information about 'applying for advance assurance' has been moved to a new page.

  2. 21 July 2023

     The information about when your application will be accepted and how long it will be valid for has been clarified. The sections 'When you can apply', ‘When you cannot apply’ and 'What you will need' have been updated. The 'How to apply' section now includes the application form and how to complete it. The mandatory date of ‘1 August 2023’ to submit an additional information form has been changed to ‘8 August 2023’ in ‘Before you claim R&D tax relief’, step 2.

  3. 1 April 2023

     More information has been added about what you will need to apply for advance assurance and what happens after you’ve applied. A new section has been added to tell you what you need to do before you claim R&D tax relief for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2023 and for claims from 1 August 2023.

  4. 29 March 2019

     The overview on Advance Assurance webinar has been removed.

  5. 6 April 2016

     A new pre-recorded webinar giving an overview on Advance Assurance has been added to this page.

  6. 30 November 2015

     First published.

What advance assurance is

Advance assurance is a voluntary service that allows you to send HMRC details of your company’s Research and Development (R&D) work. This is done before claiming R&D tax relief in your Corporation Tax Return.

We will:

• check the details in your application
• provide assurance on the areas of your claim that you have asked about

Asking for advance assurance is not the same as making an R&D claim. Check the steps you need to take to correctly claim R&D tax relief.

Choosing the advance assurance service that works for you

HMRC offers 2 types of advance assurance. You can choose either:

• a new targeted advance assurance service (also known as the advance assurance pilot)
• an existing full claim advance assurance service

Before you apply for advance assurance make sure you choose the right type of assurance service for your company and that you meet the relevant criteria to use it. A company cannot apply under both services for the same period or project.

Targeted advance assurance

HMRC has introduced a targeted advance assurance service as a pilot. The pilot will run until May 2027. It gives eligible small or medium sized enterprises (SMEs) clarity on specific complex or high-risk areas of an R&D tax relief claim, before a claim is made.

You can make up to 2 applications for targeted advance assurance. Each application can only include one project and one assurance area of R&D relief. If you want assurance on another project or area, you’ll need to submit a separate application.

Read about applying for targeted advance assurance on up to 2 areas of your Research & Development (R&D) tax relief claim.

Full claim advance assurance

HMRC provides a full claim advance assurance service to SMEs claiming R&D relief for the first time. This service covers the entire claim, and the advance assurance agreement is granted for the first 3 accounting periods only.

Read about applying for full claim advance assurance on your first R&D tax relief claim.