The R&D tax claim process at a glance
| Stage | What happens | Main output |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Scope the R&D landscape | Understand the company, projects, teams and R&D delivery structure | Potential R&D project universe |
| 2. Assess technical eligibility | Review evidence and interview technical teams to define qualifying projects | Project Eligibility Report |
| 3. Quantify qualifying expenditure | Map payroll, GL, suppliers, CSA, locations and grants against qualifying R&D | Financial Computation |
| 4. Prepare the R&D claim | Bring the technical and financial position into the required claim documentation | R&D Claim Form |
| 5. Build the substantiation file | Consolidate the supporting technical and financial evidence | Claim Report |
| 6. Integrate, file and support | Coordinate with the wider tax filing and support subsequent IRAS questions | Filed claim + enquiry support |
A defensible claim connects:
technical project qualifying activity resource expenditure tax treatment supporting evidence
Stage 1 — Scope the R&D landscape
The first step is to understand where potentially qualifying R&D may exist across the business before deciding what should enter the claim.
We review the company's products, technologies and development programmes, the teams carrying out the work, Singapore and overseas activity, outsourced R&D, group or cost-sharing arrangements, Government grants and the relevant technical and financial stakeholders.
Potential R&D does not always sit in a department labelled "R&D", and an internal R&D label does not establish eligibility. The assessment therefore starts from the underlying activity rather than the department name or accounting code.
Stage 2 — Assess technical eligibility
Potential projects are assessed against Singapore's R&D criteria using existing technical records and focused interviews with the people who carried out or directed the work.
The assessment establishes the technical objective, what was novel or technically uncertain, why the outcome was not readily deducible, what alternatives were investigated, what experimental work took place and where the qualifying project begins and ends.
The technical team provides the facts and available evidence. It does not need to interpret the tax rules or draft the claim narrative itself.
Reeve | R&D structures the evidence against the R&D criteria and prepares the technical position.
Project Eligibility Report
The Project Eligibility Report records the projects assessed, the qualifying position, relevant project periods and boundaries, the R&D rationale and any evidence gaps requiring attention.
That technical position then drives the financial analysis.
Stage 3 — Quantify qualifying expenditure
Once the technical R&D scope is established, we map expenditure to that scope and apply the relevant treatment.
This can include payroll and employee allocations, consumables, general-ledger data, supplier invoices, outsourced R&D, cost-sharing agreements, intercompany charges, Singapore versus overseas activity, Government grants and other project expenditure.
Finance can identify what the company spent; the technical team can explain what work was undertaken. The claim must connect the two.
The analysis follows this sequence:
Financial Computation
The Financial Computation sets out the financial basis of the claim, including expenditure by qualifying project, relevant cost categories, staff allocations, Singapore / overseas treatment, outsourced or CSA treatment, grant adjustments and the applicable base and enhanced deductions.
Stage 4 — Prepare the R&D claim
The technical and financial positions are then brought together into the formal R&D tax claim.
A taxpayer claiming R&D tax benefits must make the claim as part of the Income Tax Return for the relevant Year of Assessment and prepare the applicable R&D Claim Form.
For businesses filing Form C, the R&D Claim Form is submitted with the Income Tax Return. Businesses filing Form C-S or Form C-S (Lite) should retain the completed R&D Claim Form and provide it to IRAS if requested.
The form captures the R&D activities, projects, eligibility basis, qualifying expenditure and deduction calculations. But the form is the output of the process, not a substitute for the technical and financial work behind it.
Reeve | R&D prepares the R&D-specific claim documentation and coordinates the resulting position with the company's wider tax filing process.
Stage 5 — Build the substantiation file
IRAS does not necessarily require every supporting document to be submitted with the original claim, but the taxpayer must maintain adequate documentation capable of substantiating the position if further information is requested.
We therefore build the substantiation file alongside the claim rather than waiting for an enquiry.
The Claim Report consolidates the technical and financial basis of the R&D position. Depending on the claim, it can include project narratives, evidence of novelty or technical risk, explanations of the experimental work, project timelines, test records, supporting calculations, payroll allocations, invoices, outsourced R&D evidence, cost-sharing agreements, grant analysis and reconciliations.
The objective is not to create unnecessary administration. It is to organise the evidence already generated through the company's technical and financial activities into a coherent support file.
R&D Claim Form versus Claim Report
| R&D Claim Form | Claim Report | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | State the R&D claim position for tax purposes | Substantiate and defend that position |
| Content | Technical and financial claim information | Supporting technical, financial and evidentiary detail |
| Primary use | Income tax claim process | Internal substantiation and IRAS support where required |
| Timing | Prepared for the relevant tax filing | Built alongside the claim, before an enquiry |
The summary position and the underlying evidence should tell the same technical and financial story.
Stage 6 — Integrate the claim into the wider tax filing
Many companies already work with an accountant, corporate tax agent or auditor. Reeve | R&D can own the specialist R&D tax workstream while the existing adviser continues to manage the wider corporate tax position.
Our specialist workstream can include project identification, technical eligibility, expenditure analysis, R&D computation, technical narratives, R&D Claim Form preparation, substantiation documentation, EIS cash-payout analysis where relevant and R&D-specific IRAS enquiry support.
The existing tax adviser can continue to manage the wider corporate tax computation, non-R&D deductions, return preparation, filing administration and broader tax matters.
Where R&D intersects with capitalised development expenditure, intercompany charges, cost-sharing arrangements, overseas engineering costs or other accounting issues, we coordinate with the relevant tax, finance or audit teams so that the technical claim and financial records remain consistent.
If IRAS reviews the claim
IRAS can request additional technical or financial information where the original claim does not provide sufficient support.
Where questions arise, Reeve | R&D can coordinate the R&D-specific response, including additional technical explanations, expenditure reconciliations, supporting evidence and collaboration with the company's tax agent.
IRAS also maintains a Technical Advisory Panel for appropriate cases. IRAS remains responsible for the final decision on the claim.
For businesses with substantial recurring R&D claims, the R&D Assurance Framework may provide a separate route to greater upfront certainty.
Build the claim while the R&D is happening
A claim can be prepared retrospectively, but contemporaneous evidence is generally stronger and easier to work with than a position reconstructed several years later.
For recurring claimants, the better operating model is to identify projects and evidence during the year even if the formal tax claim is prepared annually.
This reduces the need to reconstruct technical decisions after engineers have moved roles, systems have changed or project records have become harder to connect to the financial data.
The first claim should create a repeatable process
A well-designed first claim can establish an annual framework for identifying new R&D projects, recognising eligibility issues, recording project boundaries, capturing evidence, allocating staff costs, tracking outsourced R&D and grants, and coordinating the R&D and Finance teams.
That process becomes particularly important for companies with recurring product-development programmes, multiple technical teams, cross-border R&D or increasing R&D expenditure.
What we need from the company
No external adviser can replace the knowledge of the people who carried out the work, but the company should not need to build the claim itself.
We typically need the company to provide existing technical and financial records, identify the relevant technical stakeholders, participate in focused interviews, clarify factual questions, review the resulting technical descriptions and validate the final financial assumptions.
The technical team should not need to interpret the R&D legislation, draft tax narratives from scratch, calculate the deduction or manage technical IRAS responses without specialist support.
One methodology, two workstreams
A defensible claim is built through two workstreams that converge:
Technical: Discover Assess Document
Financial: Map Quantify Compute
Together they produce the R&D Claim Form + Claim Report, which support the wider corporate tax filing and any subsequent IRAS substantiation.
How Reeve | R&D manages the complete claim
We take ownership of the specialist workstream from project identification through technical assessment, expenditure analysis, claim preparation, substantiation, coordination with the existing tax adviser and R&D-specific enquiry support.
Tell us how your company develops technology, how your R&D teams are structured and how the work is currently documented. We can determine the appropriate claim process and the technical and financial information required.
R&D tax claim process FAQs
Do we need to prepare the technical R&D report ourselves?
No. Your technical teams provide the underlying facts and available evidence. Reeve | R&D structures that information against the R&D criteria and prepares the technical claim documentation.
Does our tax agent need to prepare the R&D claim?
Not necessarily. Reeve | R&D can manage the specialist R&D workstream and coordinate the resulting position with the existing tax agent for integration into the wider corporate tax filing.
What documents do we need for an R&D tax claim?
The evidence depends on the project, but can include project plans, specifications, engineering records, source-control history, test results, prototypes, payroll and ledger data, supplier invoices, cost-sharing agreements and grant documentation.
Do we need perfect R&D documentation already in place?
No. Existing contemporaneous records can support the position even where there is no formal R&D report, although better evidence capture during the year generally makes the claim easier to substantiate.
What happens if IRAS questions the claim?
IRAS can request additional technical or financial information. Reeve | R&D can support the R&D-specific response in coordination with the company and its tax adviser.