Practical guides to HMRC's R&D compliance programme: enquiry selection, agent registration, professional standards, named-officer responsibility and advance assurance. Written for finance directors and the advisers who work with them.
Quick answer: Uplift Tax's compliance guides cover HMRC's R&D enquiry programme (MREP), the mandatory tax adviser registration taking effect from 18 May 2026, the January 2026 update to Professional Conduct in Relation to Taxation, the named-officer requirement on every Additional Information Form since August 2023, and the Spring 2026 R&D Advance Assurance pilot, written for finance directors, not tax specialists.
Compliance
The Mandatory Random Enquiry Programme (MREP) selects SME R&D claims at random for detailed review. In 2021 to 2022, 30 per cent of selected claims were wholly non-compliant.
Read guide →Regulation
From 18 May 2026, HMRC requires paid tax advisers to register or lose the right to interact with HMRC on a client’s behalf, including filing R&D claims.
Read guide →Professional Standards
Professional Conduct in Relation to Taxation was updated from 1 January 2026 to align with international ethics standards, raising the bar for how R&D advisers must work and document claims.
Read guide →Compliance
The Additional Information Form requires a named company officer to take personal responsibility for every R&D claim filed from August 2023 onward.
Read guide →Process
HMRC’s targeted advance assurance pilot launched on 18 May 2026 and runs until May 2027, giving SMEs pre-clearance on up to two high-risk areas of an R&D claim.
Read guide →Our 15-minute assessment will tell you whether your company has a defensible R&D claim, and put you in touch with an HMRC-registered specialist if a claim is worth pursuing.
Request Your Free AssessmentMREP randomly selects SME R&D claims for detailed HMRC review, regardless of how strong the claim looks on paper. Per HMRC's own publication 'HMRC's approach to Research and Development tax reliefs 2023 to 2024', in the 2021 to 2022 selection round 30% of MREP-selected claims were found wholly non-compliant, which is why a defensible technical narrative matters even for claims that are never flagged by risk-based selection.
From 18 May 2026, HMRC requires any paid tax adviser who interacts with HMRC on a client's behalf, including agents filing R&D claims, to be registered with HMRC or lose the right to act for clients. Extended deadlines apply to advisers with existing Self Assessment or Corporation Tax accounts and to payroll-only advisers.
Professional Conduct in Relation to Taxation (PCRT), the ethical framework that governs how CTA and ATT-qualified advisers must work, was updated from 1 January 2026 to align with international ethics standards, raising the documentation and conduct bar for how R&D advisers prepare and evidence a claim file.
The Additional Information Form, mandatory for every R&D claim submitted on or after 8 August 2023, requires a named senior company officer to take personal responsibility for the claim, not just the agent or adviser who prepared it.
HMRC's targeted pilot, launched 18 May 2026 and running to May 2027, gives SMEs pre-clearance from HMRC on up to two high-risk areas of an R&D claim before it is submitted. It follows very low uptake of the original Advance Assurance scheme, which received around 86 applications in 2023/24, about 0.1% of all claims.
They are written for finance directors and the advisers who work with them, covering enquiry selection, agent registration, professional standards and named-officer responsibility in plain terms, rather than as a technical reference for tax specialists.