Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of claims for the small and medium-sized enterprise research and development tax credits scheme exceeded HMRC’s 40-day processing target in each year since 2020.

Research and Development tax reliefs are a vital driver of innovation, growth and productivity and are crucial to the government’s pledge to grow the economy. It’s important that these reliefs are easy to claim and are provided quickly to genuine claimants.

HMRC does not currently have a delay or backlog and is exceeding performance against its published goal to either pay or make contact regarding the claim for 85% of claims within 40 days.