Corporation Tax Act 2010 section 1138

"Research and development"

Section 1138 defines "research and development" for the purposes of the Corporation Tax Acts, linking the definition to generally accepted accounting practice and to regulations made under the Income Tax Act 2007, while excluding oil and gas exploration and appraisal.

• Research and development means activities that fall to be treated as such in accordance with generally accepted accounting practice.
• Activities classified as research and development by regulations under section 1006 of the Income Tax Act 2007 are also treated as research and development for corporation tax purposes.
• Activities excluded from research and development by those same regulations are equally excluded for corporation tax purposes.
• Unless expressly stated otherwise, research and development does not include oil and gas exploration and appraisal.