What impact will furlough have on my claims for R&D tax relief?

The costs related to staffing payments during the furlough period cannot be included in your R&D tax relief claim.

The primary reason for excluding this expenditure is that under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), furloughed employees are not allowed to perform any work for the company. As a result, they cannot be considered actively engaged in relevant R&D activities during the furlough period.

The costs that should be excluded from the claim encompass the gross salary for the furloughed period, employers’ National Insurance Contributions (NIC), and pension contributions, even if these expenses were not entirely covered by government funding.