R&D Tax Credits · South East London
R&D tax credit claims in Lewisham
If your Lewisham company has spent money trying to resolve a technical problem that competent professionals could not readily solve, you may have an R&D claim worth up to 16.2% of the spend under the merged scheme, or more as a loss-making R&D-intensive company. We review eligibility free, then prepare and file for a fixed fee.
from £999 · fixed, per claim
Next deadlines
- R&D claim deadline: 2 years after the end of the accounting period (and the pre-notification window of 6 months after the period for first-time claimants)
- Company tax return (CT600) due 12 months after your year end (a 31 December year end files by 31 December)
- Corporation Tax payment, 9 months and 1 day after your year end (a 31 December year end pays by 1 October)
- R&D claim deadline: 2 years after the end of the accounting period (and the pre-notification window of 6 months after the period for first-time claimants)
Who this is for
R&D Tax Credits for Lewisham
Limited companies in Lewisham that have tried to achieve an advance in science or technology and faced genuine uncertainty doing it: software firms building something that did not exist, manufacturers developing new processes or materials, engineering businesses solving problems off the standard path, and food, biotech and clean-tech companies with development spend to recover.
What is included
Everything inside the fixed fee
- Eligibility review against the statutory definition of R&D for tax purposes, with a written yes or no
- Advance notification to HMRC within six months of the period end for first-time and lapsed claimants
- Technical narrative for each project: the scientific or technological uncertainty, the advance sought and how it was resolved
- Qualifying expenditure computed: staff costs, subcontractors, externally provided workers, software, consumables and data
- The Additional Information Form completed and submitted before the CT600 is filed
- Claim entered on the CT600 and the relief or payable credit tracked through to HMRC's payment
How it works
R&D Tax Credits from Lewisham, step by step
Tell us your situation
A short message or call about what you do and what needs filing. We ask the questions that determine the right package and nothing more.
Fixed fee in writing
You receive one price for the work, confirmed by email before anything starts. It does not change if the job takes longer than we expected.
Send records, review the draft
Records come by WhatsApp or email. We prepare the draft, explain the figures in plain English and answer your questions.
We file, you get the receipts
Once you approve and the fee is settled, we submit electronically and forward the HMRC or Companies House acknowledgement the same day.
Why IGI
What you get in Lewisham
The price for r&d tax credits is published on this page and is what a client in Lewisham pays. We confirm it in writing first, and the invoice matches the quote.
Deadline-first: the dates that matter for r&d tax credits are shown at the top of this page, diarised for every Lewisham client and chased before they arrive.
Online only, UK based. There is no office in Lewisham to pay for, which is why the fee is the same here as anywhere in England; the work is done by people in the UK who answer the same day.
Continuity matters in r&d tax credits: the person who prepared last year's work for your Lewisham business prepares this year's, and remembers what was agreed.
The output for Lewisham clients is never just a form. It is the form, a one-page summary of what it says, and a note of the decisions it points to for r&d tax credits.
Approval before filing is a rule, not a courtesy. For r&d tax credits in Lewisham, every submission to HMRC or Companies House follows your written go-ahead.
Local facts
About Lewisham
Lewisham is in South East London, in the SE13 postcode district, England. Income tax in England follows the UK rates: 20% basic to £50,270, 40% higher to £125,140 and 45% additional, with the personal allowance of £12,570 tapered away above £100,000. National Insurance, VAT and Corporation Tax are UK-wide, and Stamp Duty Land Tax applies to property purchases.
| Place | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Lewisham Central | 0.4 mi | S |
| Ladywell | 0.6 mi | SW |
| Hither Green | 0.9 mi | S |
| Blackheath, Lewisham | 0.9 mi | NE |
| Lee Green, Lewisham | 1 mi | SE |
| Lee, Greenwich | 1 mi | SE |
| Deptford, Greenwich | 1 mi | NW |
| Greenwich West | 1 mi | N |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
Switching accountants
You can switch accountant at any point in the year. The new firm requests clearance and your records from the old one, which cannot withhold your own documents though it may hold its own working papers until its fees are settled. Agent authorisations with HMRC and Companies House are transferred, and the next deadline is picked up without a gap.
Closing a company
Voluntary strike-off is available only to solvent companies. One that owes money it cannot pay needs a creditors' voluntary liquidation through a licensed insolvency practitioner, and directors who dissolve an insolvent company face personal consequences. For a solvent company the process takes three to four months from filing the DS01, with notice to creditors and shareholders within seven days.
Confirmation statements and identity verification
The confirmation statement is the annual check that the public register is right: officers, registered office, SIC codes, shareholders and the PSC register. It carries a £50 fee and no financial penalty for lateness, but failure to file leads to compulsory strike-off. The identity verification regime introduced in November 2025 has added a further check to every statement.
CIS deductions
Under the Construction Industry Scheme, contractors deduct 20% from a registered subcontractor's labour invoices, or 30% if unregistered, and pay it to HMRC. The subcontractor reclaims the deductions against their actual tax through Self Assessment, usually producing a refund because deductions are on turnover while tax is on profit. Contractors file a monthly return by the 19th.
Late filing penalties
Lateness is expensive in a way that compounds. For individuals, £100 immediately, then daily penalties, then percentage-based ones at six and twelve months, with interest running on unpaid tax throughout. For companies, Companies House penalties scale with delay and double on repeat, and HMRC adds its own for a late CT600. Filing on time is the cheapest tax planning there is.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
MTD for Income Tax replaces one annual return with quarterly digital updates and a year-end declaration, submitted from software. The threshold is gross trading and property income, measured two years earlier, and started at £50,000 in April 2026 before falling to £30,000 in April 2027. Anyone affected needs digital record keeping in place before their start date, not after.
The Self Assessment calendar
The tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April. Anyone new to Self Assessment must register by 5 October after the end of the tax year in which their untaxed income began. The online return and the balancing payment are due by 31 January, with a second payment on account on 31 July where they apply. Paper returns have an earlier deadline of 31 October and are rarely sensible.
Questions
R&D Tax Credits questions from Lewisham
How long does a claim take to pay out?
HMRC aims to process 85% of claims within 40 days but the compliance campaign has lengthened this for many. Relief reducing a Corporation Tax bill takes effect when the return is processed; payable credits are paid to the company's bank account. We track the claim and chase HMRC if it stalls.
Why do you charge a fixed fee rather than a percentage?
Percentage fees reward inflating the claim, which is exactly what HMRC's campaign targets. A fixed fee means our only interest is a claim that is right. For most small company claims £999 is also considerably cheaper than the 15% to 30% of benefit that contingent advisers charge.
What is the advance notification requirement?
Companies that have not claimed in the previous three accounting periods must notify HMRC of their intention to claim within six months of the end of the period. Miss it and the claim for that period is lost entirely. We check your position at the eligibility stage and file the notification as part of the service.
What is the Additional Information Form?
Since August 2023 every R&D claim must be accompanied by a form submitted to HMRC before the CT600, giving project descriptions, cost breakdowns, the named senior officer responsible and any agent involved. Claims without it are removed from the return. We complete and submit it as part of the £999 fee.
How much is the relief worth under the merged scheme?
For accounting periods starting on or after 1 April 2024 the merged scheme gives a 20% expenditure credit, taxable, so worth around 15% to 16.2% of qualifying spend net of tax. Loss-making companies spending at least 30% of total expenditure on R&D can claim the enhanced intensive rate, worth up to 27%.
What costs qualify?
Staff costs including employer NI and pension for time spent on R&D, externally provided workers at 65%, subcontracted R&D at 65% with new rules on who claims, software licences, cloud computing and data costs, consumables transformed or used up in the R&D, and some clinical trial payments. Capital spend, rent and marketing do not qualify.
Do you have an office in Lewisham?
No. IGI Accounting is an online-only firm. We serve Lewisham and every other UK postcode remotely, with records sent by WhatsApp or email and everything filed electronically. The absence of local premises is why the fee for r&d tax credits is the same in Lewisham as anywhere else in the country, and why there is nothing to visit and nothing to print.
Is r&d tax credits in Lewisham really the same price as elsewhere?
Yes. The fee published on this page is what a client in Lewisham pays and what a client in any other part of England pays. It is confirmed in writing before work starts and the invoice matches the quote. Where a higher package applies because your situation is more complex, we say so at the quote stage, never afterwards.
Let us take the deadlines off your plate in Lewisham
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.