Business10 min read
How to write the project descriptions for a UK R&D tax relief claim, with AI
The Draimo team
Short answer
To claim UK R&D tax relief, a company must submit HMRC's additional information form before, or on the same day as, its Company Tax Return, sending the form first. For each relevant project it describes the field, the baseline, the advance sought, the scientific or technological uncertainties and how the project tried to overcome them. AI helps you write those fields precisely from your engineers' notes, inside the form itself.
Try it in Draimo
Start with one project
- Interview me about our R&D project, one question at a time, until you can write HMRC's fields: baseline, advance sought, uncertainties and how we tried to overcome them
- Rewrite this project description so the uncertainty is scientific or technological, not commercial, and explain why a competent professional could not readily resolve it
- Documents
- Writes reports, proposals and bids from your brief and files, and downloads them as Word, PDF, PowerPoint or Excel.
- Draimo Pro
- Files
- Attach a PDF, Word file, slides or a photo and ask about it.
- One file per message on every plan; several at once on paid plans
- Projects
- Keeps everything for one goal together: documents, sites and research.
- Every plan
The additional information form comes first
Since 8 August 2023, every R&D tax relief or expenditure credit claim must be supported by an additional information form sent to HMRC. GOV.UK is precise about timing: the form must be submitted before or on the same day as the Company Tax Return, and if both go in on the same day, the form must be sent first. A claim without it is not accepted.
You need a separate form for each accounting period you claim for. You cannot go back into a form after submitting it, so keep a copy of everything you write.
How many projects to describe
The number of projects you describe depends on how many you are claiming for. GOV.UK sets it out:
| Projects claimed | What to describe |
|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | Every project |
| 4 to 10 | At least 3 projects that together account for at least half of the qualifying expenditure |
| More than 10 | At least 3 projects covering at least half of the qualifying expenditure; if that would take more than 10, the 10 with the highest qualifying expenditure |
The six fields, and what each must do
Each project description has the same fields. HMRC's internal guidance warns that pointing to material outside the form, such as writing "see R&D report", is not acceptable, and that incomplete answers can lead to a claim being rejected or enquired into. So each field must stand on its own.
| Field | What it must show |
|---|---|
| Main field of science or technology | The field the project relates to, briefly |
| Baseline level | The knowledge or capability that existed when the project started, which the company meant to advance |
| Advance sought | The advance in scientific or technological knowledge aimed for, compared with the baseline |
| Uncertainties | Only scientific or technological uncertainties, and why they apply to the field, not just your company |
| How the project sought to overcome them | The R&D and qualifying indirect activities, the methods used, and whether the uncertainties were resolved |
| Relief claimed | The relief claimed and the qualifying costs for the project |
The commonest weakness: a commercial uncertainty
Most weak descriptions describe a business problem: building a product the company had not built before, or meeting a deadline. That is not R&D for tax purposes. The uncertainty must be scientific or technological, and it must be one a competent professional in the field could not readily resolve, for example by asking peers or using known methods.
Compare "We were uncertain whether customers would adopt the app" with "It was not known whether on-device inference could classify defects in 40 milliseconds on a 2-watt processor, because published methods required ten times the power." The second states the baseline, the advance and why the answer was not knowable. Ask Draimo to test each draft: is this uncertainty about the science or technology, and would a competent professional have known the answer?
How to write it with Draimo
The structure is close to other technical claims. See a Canadian SR&ED claim, made on Draimo, which sets out the baseline, the uncertainties and the work done for a vision system that picks frost-covered produce.
- Put each project's technical notes, test logs and timesheets in one project in Draimo.
- Ask Draimo to interview your lead engineer, one question at a time, about the baseline, the advance, the uncertainties and the work.
- Ask for each field written to GOV.UK's description, standing on its own, with no reference to other documents.
- Ask it to flag any uncertainty that sounds commercial rather than technological.
- Have your competent professional confirm every statement, then enter the text into the form yourself and keep a copy.
What AI does not do here
Draimo helps you describe the work clearly. It does not decide whether work qualifies, calculate the relief, or submit anything to HMRC. A claim is the company's responsibility; take advice from your accountant or an R&D tax adviser, and never describe work that did not happen.
Writing the descriptions as a document is part of Draimo Pro, £20.99 a month in the UK.
Questions people ask
- When must the R&D additional information form be submitted?
- Before or on the same day as the Company Tax Return. If both go in on the same day, GOV.UK says to send the form first, then the return.
- How many projects do I need to describe?
- All of them if you claim for 1 to 3. For 4 to 10, at least 3 covering at least half the qualifying expenditure. For more than 10, at least 3 covering half, or the 10 with the highest expenditure if more would be needed.
- Can I write "see R&D report" in the form?
- HMRC's internal guidance says referring to material outside the form is not acceptable. Each field must stand on its own.
- What counts as a scientific or technological uncertainty?
- One a competent professional in the field could not readily resolve, for example by asking peers or using known methods. Commercial or project-management uncertainty does not count.
- Can AI write my R&D claim?
- AI can help you describe each project clearly from your engineers' notes. The company remains responsible for the claim, so have a competent professional confirm every statement and take advice on what qualifies.
- Does Draimo submit the claim to HMRC?
- No. Draimo helps you write the descriptions; you enter them into HMRC's form and file your return.
Sources we checked
- GOV.UK: Additional information you must submit before you claim R&D tax relief
- HMRC manual CIRD182000: additional information form
Checked October 21, 2026. Dates and amounts change every year. Ask Draimo for this year's figures, grounded in official sources.
Let Draimo interview your engineer about one project, one question at a time.
Start with one project
