Corporation Tax Act 2009 section 1079

Qualifying expenditure on contributions to independent R&D

Section 1079 defines what counts as "qualifying expenditure on contributions to independent research and development" for the purposes of the R&D tax relief regime.

• This provision is primarily designed to support R&D carried out by universities and other non-taxpaying research institutions.
• It allows companies to claim tax relief on payments they make to fund independent R&D performed by third parties, even where the company is not itself carrying out the research.
• The expenditure must meet specific qualifying conditions to be eligible — it must genuinely relate to independent research and development activities.
• The provision was amended by Finance Act 2013 (Schedule 15, paragraph 14) to update the qualifying criteria.