Energy, Cleantech and Agritech R&D Tax Credit Specialists
Energy, cleantech and agritech companies often carry out qualifying R&D because they are trying to make technologies work at new levels of efficiency, cost or scale. Work qualifies when the technical route was uncertain, whether in batteries, hydrogen, heat, carbon capture, controls or crop and soil science.
What cleantech and agritech work qualifies?
Examples that can qualify
- Improving battery, fuel cell or electrolyser performance beyond what known designs achieve
- Control systems and software that manage renewable generation or storage in new ways
- Carbon capture, recycling or decarbonisation processes with uncertain outcomes
- Precision agriculture sensors, robotics or data methods that advance the technology
- Crop, soil or animal science research with uncertain results
Examples that usually do not
- Installing standard solar, heat pump or battery systems
- Energy audits and routine efficiency projects
- Farm management that applies known techniques
- Environmental reporting and certification
How do grants affect cleantech claims?
Many cleantech projects receive grants from Innovate UK or other public bodies. For accounting periods from April 2024, the merged scheme and ERIS no longer push subsidised projects into a less generous relief as the old SME scheme did, but the grant still needs to be handled correctly. Some grant conditions and state aid rules, especially in Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework, can affect what you claim.
What evidence matters most?
- Technical targets and the state of the art when the project began
- Test data from prototypes and field trials
- Records separating R&D trials from commercial deployment
- Grant agreements and how costs were split
What should a cleantech specialist bring?
A cleantech specialist should combine engineering or science knowledge in your technology with experience of grants and subsidies, so the claim and the funding fit together without double counting.
Example: how a cleantech uncertainty is described
Illustration. A battery storage company needed its control software to balance a site's solar generation, storage and grid export while extending battery life, under fast changing prices. Existing control methods either reduced battery life or missed price peaks. The engineers developed and tested new control strategies in simulation and on a pilot site, discarding several that failed under real conditions. The control development and testing were R&D; installation of standard hardware was not.
Typical cost profile
| Cost type | How often it features | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Engineers' and scientists' staff costs | Almost always | Time on uncertain development |
| Prototype materials and components | Very common | Exclude items later sold or deployed commercially |
| Cloud computing for simulation | Common | Separate from live monitoring of customer sites |
| Field trial costs | Common | Who bears the cost decides who claims |
| Grant funded costs | Very common | Handle correctly; check grant conditions |
What does HMRC focus on in cleantech claims?
- Whether the work advanced the technology or deployed known technology
- How grants and other funding are reflected in the claim
- Whether field trials were R&D or commercial deployment
- Overseas testing under the April 2024 rules
Agritech: does biological research count?
Yes. Science includes the biological sciences, so research in crop, soil and animal science can qualify, as can engineering work on farm robotics, sensors and data systems where the outcome was uncertain.
What should you ask an R&D specialist about cleantech claims?
- How will you handle our grant funding in the claim?
- How will you separate field trials from commercial deployment?
- Do you understand our technology well enough to describe the uncertainty?
- Will you check state aid requirements if we operate in Northern Ireland?
Cleantech claims often combine grants, partners and field trials, so a specialist should map the funding and contracts before building the claim.
Frequently asked questions
Can we claim for field trials on a customer site?
Yes, if the trial was part of qualifying R&D and the costs are yours. Who claims depends on the contract.
Do agritech projects qualify if they are biological?
Yes. Science includes the biological sciences, so research in crop, soil or animal science can qualify.
Does Northern Ireland have different rules?
The relief is the same, but Northern Ireland claimants may have state aid obligations under the Windsor Framework, including declarations for some claims.
Do installations for customers qualify?
Installing known technology does not. Developing and testing new technology, including on a customer's site, may, depending on who bears the cost.
Can we claim if Innovate UK funded the project?
Yes, for accounting periods from April 2024, grant funding no longer moves the project into a less generous scheme, but the grant must be handled correctly.
Does carbon accounting software qualify?
Only if building it required a technological advance, such as new methods for measuring or modelling emissions. Reporting tools built with known methods are routine.
Get matched with a vetted R&D tax specialist
Tell us what you do and roughly what you spend on development. We check the basics, then introduce you to a specialist from our panel whose sector experience fits your work.
- Free to use, with no obligation to appoint anyone
- Introductions only to firms that meet our panel criteria
- Fee terms in writing from the firm before you sign anything
- We flag claim deadlines we can see from your answers
Our matching service is free for businesses. Specialist firms on our panel pay us a fee when we introduce a business to them. That fee does not change the price a firm quotes you, and you are never obliged to appoint anyone we introduce.