Your first claim: from project list to filing

A first claim is a project in its own right, with a start, a sequence and a deadline that in several countries falls before the tax return is due. After this module you will be able to run that project: the steps from a project list to a filed claim, who needs to be involved at each step, and what to expect in the months after filing.

What this module covers

The order of events for a first claim, including the steps that must happen before year end or soon after it.
Eight steps from project list to filing.
Who to involve: engineers, finance, the accountant or tax agent, and any advisor.
What happens after filing: processing, payment, selection for review and the records to keep.

The order of events

The timeline is generic except for one thing: in four of the seven countries a first-time claimant must take a registration, approval or notification step before, or within months of, the year end, and missing it means no claim for that year.

Stage	When	Who	Output
Set up records	From day one (Module 2)	Technical lead, finance	Project register, time records, project codes in the ledger
Check the pre-claim step and deadlines	When the first project starts	Finance with the accountant	Dated list of the pre-claim step and the filing deadline
Make the pre-claim step	By the country's date, where one applies	Technical lead drafts, finance submits	Confirmation received
Project identification workshop	Soon after year end	Technical lead, engineers, finance	Project list with an uncertainty sentence for each
Eligibility screen and cost schedule	After the workshop	Finance, technical lead	Costs by project and category, excluded work removed
Compute the benefit and make elections	Before the return is prepared	Accountant, finance	Calculation, elections, draft forms
Review, sign and file	By the country's deadline	Founder signs; finance files	Filed claim, archived evidence pack

Eight steps from project list to filing

List the candidate projects. Run a short workshop with the engineers. Output: every project that set out to resolve a technical uncertainty in the period, with its uncertainty sentence and the competent professional who judged it.
Screen each project. Remove work that applied known methods, work after the uncertainty was resolved, and the excluded categories on the country's eligibility page. Record why each project was kept or dropped.
Build the cost schedule. From the ledger and time records, list eligible costs by project and category, apply the country's rules on contractors, overseas work, materials and grants (Module 3), and reconcile to the accounts.
Write the technical description. Every country asks for the uncertainty, why existing knowledge did not resolve it, the work done and the outcome. Engineers draft, the technical lead approves. Good descriptions name what was tried and what failed.
Compute the benefit and choose elections. Several schemes offer a choice of method or an election that must be made on the original return; the country's how-to-claim page lists them.
Check consistency. Description, cost schedule, time records and accounts should tell one story. Reviewers test exactly this.
Review and sign. A founder or director signs the return. Some countries also ask for the senior officer responsible for the claim and any agent or preparer.
File and archive. File with, or in the order required by, the tax return, and archive the evidence pack: register, time records, cost schedule, description, contracts and grant letters, filing confirmation.

Who to involve

Role	Contribution	When
Founder or managing director	Decides to claim, sets the standard that only defensible work is included, signs the return	Decision at the start; signature at the end
Technical lead	The competent professional who judges uncertainty, approves the project list and the descriptions	Pre-claim step, workshop, description
Engineers who did the work	Time records through the year; first draft of each description	Throughout; workshop; drafting
Finance lead or bookkeeper	Cost coding, cost schedule, reconciliation to the accounts, evidence archive, deadline tracking	Throughout; filing
Accountant or tax agent	Computes the benefit, makes elections, prepares and files the return and the claim forms	Computation and filing
Advisor, if used	Specialist review of eligibility and descriptions. Fees vary widely. Contingent fees are commonly quoted as a percentage of the benefit, while fixed and hourly fees are also used, sometimes in combination.	Decided at the start; see the guide on briefing and evaluating an advisor

What to expect afterwards

Processing and payment. A benefit that reduces tax takes effect when the return is processed; a payable benefit arrives when the tax authority pays it. Canada's service standard is to process refundable claims accepted as filed within 60 calendar days of receipt of a complete claim, and refundable claims selected for review within 180 calendar days. Ireland pays in instalments.

Selection for review. Six of the seven tax authorities select claims for review on a risk basis; the United States selects research credit claims through its normal return selection processes. Claimant history, the size of and change in the claim, the sector, the claim preparer and the quality and consistency of the information are among the factors named in guidance. The records from Module 2 are the answer.

Amending. Each country sets a window to make, amend or withdraw a claim: in the United Kingdom within 2 years of the end of the accounting period, in Canada no later than 12 months after the return's filing due date. A first claim found to be wrong should be corrected inside that window; the guide on claim integrity explains why.

Records. Keep the evidence pack for the retention period: 7 years in New Zealand, 6 years in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada, 5 years in Australia and Singapore. Reviews can arrive years after payment.

Illustrative example

Illustrative example. Harbour Robotics Ltd, a hypothetical company with a 31 December year end, decides in October of its first year to claim. Eligible costs for the year will be about 100,000.

Month	Action
October, year 1	Finance lists the pre-claim step and the filing deadline. In the United Kingdom a first-time claimant must notify the tax authority within 6 months of the end of the period of account, so by 30 June of year 2.
January, year 2	Workshop: two candidates, one kept (slip detection), one dropped (a dashboard built with known methods). Time records exported.
February, year 2	Cost schedule: 50,000 of eligible staff costs after excluding faults fixed after the uncertainty was resolved. Engineers draft the description; the technical lead approves it.
March to June, year 2	Accountant computes the benefit at that country's rate and makes any election. Pre-claim step submitted. Founder signs.
Filing	Claim filed with the tax return by the deadline. Evidence pack archived.
After filing	Payment or reduced tax when the return is processed, or later if selected for review. Records kept for the retention period.

Across the seven countries

Country	Pre-claim step	Claim and deadline
United States	No pre-registration.	Form 6765, filed with the income tax return. The payroll tax election is made on a timely filed original return, including extensions.
United Kingdom	Claim notification within 6 months of the end of the period of account, if claiming for the first time or the last claim was more than 3 years ago.	Make, amend or withdraw the claim within 2 years of the end of the accounting period, in the Company Tax Return, with an additional information form for every claim.
Ireland	Notify Revenue at least 90 days before the claim, if claiming for the first time or with no claim in the previous 3 years.	Within 12 months of the end of the accounting period in which the expenditure was incurred, on the corporation tax return.
Canada	No registration. Optional pre-claim approval since 1 April 2026.	With the income tax return and no later than 12 months after its filing due date, on Form T661 with Schedule 31 for corporations.
Australia	Register R&D activities with the department within 10 months of the end of the income year.	Claim the offset in the company tax return by completing the R&D tax incentive schedule.
New Zealand	General approval, or criteria and methodologies approval, for the income year; apply for general approval by the last day of the 3rd month after the end of the income year.	Supplementary return within 30 days after the income tax return due date, or the extension of time due date, after filing the income tax return.
Singapore	No registration.	In the corporate income tax return by its filing due date, 30 November of the Year of Assessment. Apply for any cash payout after filing the return and before the filing due date.

Module 4: Your first claim