What is the ERIS (Enhanced R&D Intensive Support) scheme?

The ERIS Scheme was introduced as an enhanced form of R&D tax relief for qualifying R&D-intensive loss-making SMEs. It provides an increased rate of support compared with the standard Merged Scheme, reflecting the Government’s intention to provide additional support to businesses that are investing a significant proportion of their expenditure in research and development.

Alongside the Enhanced R&D Intensive Support scheme, HMRC also announced another new scheme called the R&D Merged Scheme. This means that the UK’s R&D tax relief regime changed for businesses with accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2024.

The introduction of ERIS and the Merged Scheme formed part of wider changes aimed at strengthening compliance and reducing non-compliant R&D tax relief claims. The changes were intended to simplify the existing regime by bringing the previous SME R&D relief and Research and Development Expenditure Credit (RDEC) schemes together under a single Merged Scheme, while retaining enhanced support for businesses that meet the conditions for ERIS.

As a result, businesses claiming R&D relief must now consider which scheme applies to their accounting period and whether they meet the relevant qualifying conditions. The distinction is particularly important for loss-making, R&D-intensive businesses, as companies that qualify for ERIS may receive a different amount of relief than they would under the Merged Scheme.