Corporation Tax Act 2009 section 1097

R&D threshold

Section 1097 sets out the minimum amount of research and development expenditure a company must incur in an accounting period in order to claim relief under this chapter.

• A company must spend at least £10,000 on qualifying R&D expenditure in an accounting period to claim relief
• If the accounting period is shorter than 12 months, the £10,000 threshold is reduced proportionately
• The proportionate reduction is calculated by multiplying £10,000 by the number of days in the shorter accounting period, then dividing by 365
• This threshold acts as a gateway — if total qualifying expenditure falls below it, no claim can be made under this chapter for that period