Can I claim R&D tax relief and SEIS at the same time?
By SuLe · Updated 27 May 2026
Yes. R&D tax relief and SEIS operate on different taxpayers, so a startup can claim R&D relief on its qualifying spend while its investors claim 50% SEIS relief on their shares. R&D relief is a company relief — under the merged scheme, a 20% expenditure credit for accounting periods from 1 April 2024 — whereas SEIS and EIS are reliefs for the investors who subscribe.
Key facts
- R&D relief is a company relief; SEIS and EIS are investor reliefs — claiming one does not block the other.
- The merged R&D (RDEC) scheme gives a 20% expenditure credit, for accounting periods from 1 April 2024.
- Loss-making, R&D-intensive SMEs have an enhanced route: ERIS.
- SEIS gives investors 50% income tax relief; a company can raise £250,000 lifetime under SEIS.
- SEIS money must be spent on the qualifying trade within 3 years of the share issue.
Why don't SEIS and R&D relief conflict?
Because they answer different tax bills. SEIS reduces your investors' personal income tax — 50% of what each subscribes, claimed with a SEIS3 certificate. R&D relief is claimed by the company itself on its qualifying development spend.
HMRC's guidance treats them as exactly that: a company relief and an investor relief, claimable alongside each other. There is no offset, no shared cap and no election between them.
For an early-stage deep-tech company the two are complementary by design — SEIS makes the equity cheaper for angels to provide, and the R&D credit stretches how far that equity goes.
Which R&D scheme applies now?
For accounting periods from 1 April 2024, the merged RDEC scheme: a 20% expenditure credit on qualifying R&D spend, claimed by the company. It replaced the previous separate SME and RDEC regimes for those periods.
Loss-making, R&D-intensive SMEs have an enhanced route — ERIS — designed for exactly the startups that also raise under SEIS. Its rates and intensity thresholds are not covered here: check HMRC's current R&D relief guidance or ask your accountant before building it into a runway model.
What counts as qualifying R&D, and the claim mechanics, sit in HMRC's R&D guidance rather than the venture-scheme rules — treat the two workstreams separately.
Can we spend SEIS money on R&D?
Yes — for most product startups, that is precisely what the money is for. The SEIS condition is that the money raised is spent on the qualifying trade within 3 years of the share issue, and building your own product is core spending on that trade.
There is even a structural bonus for R&D-led models: the excluded-activities rule against receiving royalties and licence fees does not bite where the IP was created by the company itself. A startup commercialising its own research sits on the right side of that line.
Keep clean records of what the SEIS money was spent on. The same ledgers feed the 70% test for filing your SEIS1 early and, separately, your R&D claim.
Does claiming R&D relief affect SEIS eligibility?
No — the venture-scheme conditions are about the company's trade, size, age and the shares themselves, and HMRC's guidance confirms the two reliefs can be claimed alongside each other. Advance assurance covers SEIS/EIS only, and an R&D claim does not feature in it.
The practical interaction is organisational, not legal: the same finance function is running two claim timetables. The SEIS1 waits for 4 months of trading or 70% of the money spent; the R&D claim follows the company's accounting periods.
Tell your accountant about both from the start, so neither claim is drafted in ignorance of the other.
| SEIS | R&D relief (merged scheme) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who claims | The investor | The company |
| What it is worth | 50% income tax relief on up to £200,000 invested per tax year | 20% expenditure credit on qualifying R&D spend |
| Company-side limit | £250,000 lifetime SEIS raise | No SEIS-style cap — scales with qualifying expenditure |
| When it applies | On shares issued; claimed via SEIS3 after the SEIS1 is accepted | Accounting periods from 1 April 2024 |
| Special routes | EIS continues above SEIS limits, at 30% relief | ERIS for loss-making, R&D-intensive SMEs |
Worked example
Ed and Lina's medtech startup, Cortexa Diagnostics Ltd, raises £200,000 under SEIS in May — inside the £250,000 lifetime cap — and its four angels share £100,000 of income tax relief at 50%.
Over the following months the company spends £150,000 on qualifying R&D: machine-learning engineers and cloud compute for its diagnostic model. Under the merged scheme, which applies for accounting periods from 1 April 2024, that spend supports an expenditure credit of £30,000 — 20% — claimed by Cortexa itself.
Once £140,000 of the SEIS money is spent (the 70% gate), Cortexa also files its SEIS1 so the angels can receive SEIS3 certificates. Two reliefs, two sets of taxpayers, no conflict — and both claims built on the same spending records.
Where founders go wrong
Assuming it is either/or
— the reliefs belong to different taxpayers and stack; leaving one unclaimed is just money left on the table.Expecting the company to feel the SEIS relief
— SEIS lands on your investors' personal tax bills; the company's own relief comes from the R&D claim.Chasing the R&D claim while ignoring the SEIS clocks
— the money must be spent on the qualifying trade within 3 years, and the 70% gate controls when your SEIS1 can go in.Guessing at ERIS eligibility
— the R&D-intensive route has its own rates and thresholds; confirm them against current HMRC guidance before they enter your model.
Related questions
Does R&D tax relief reduce my investors' SEIS relief?
No. The two never meet on a tax return: R&D relief lands in the company's corporation tax position, while SEIS relief reduces each investor's personal income tax. Claiming one does not dilute, cap or complicate the other — they are reliefs for different taxpayers.
Can we raise under SEIS and EIS in the same round as well?
Yes — companies commonly use SEIS capacity first and EIS for the rest. The ordering matters: SEIS shares must be issued before EIS shares, and same-day issues are a known trap, so issue the SEIS tranche first and document the sequence clearly. [More: Can I raise under SEIS and EIS at the same time?]
Is an R&D-heavy startup an excluded trade for SEIS?
R&D and software development are not excluded trades. The exclusion to watch is receiving royalties or licence fees, which only escapes where the IP was created by the company itself — a natural fit for startups commercialising their own research, but check licensing-in models carefully. [More: Which trades are excluded from SEIS and EIS?]
Do I need advance assurance before claiming R&D relief?
No. Advance assurance is a non-statutory HMRC pre-clearance for the venture capital schemes — SEIS and EIS — and says nothing about R&D claims. R&D relief is claimed separately by the company; most angels will still want advance assurance before they invest. [More: How do I get SEIS/EIS advance assurance?]
Running SEIS and an R&D claim side by side is normal for deep-tech startups — but each has its own conditions, records and deadlines, and mistakes in one can surface awkwardly in diligence on the other. A SuLe solicitor can check your SEIS position while your accountant handles the R&D numbers, so the two claims tell one consistent story. Book a free SEIS/EIS readiness call before your next filing.
Keep reading: What is SEIS and how does it work? · Is my startup eligible for SEIS? · Can I raise under SEIS and EIS at the same time? · Which trades are excluded from SEIS and EIS? · How do I get SEIS/EIS advance assurance?
Primary sources: HMRC — Apply to use the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme · HMRC — Tax relief for investors using venture capital schemes · HMRC's R&D tax relief guidance
