Reclaim R&D
tax relief.
UK software companies may be owed money back for qualifying R&D. Aven turns the engineering you’ve already shipped into defensible evidence for your accountant.
GitHub today · more rolling out · or we work straight from an export
Most software work already qualifies. The gap is proof.
If your engineers solved problems with no off-the-shelf answer, that work can qualify for UK R&D relief. The work is rarely the problem - the evidence is.
R&D tax relief UK companies claimed from HMRC in 2023-24.
R&D claims made that year - a lot of qualifying software work still goes unclaimed.
The headline merged-scheme credit rate your tax firm applies to qualifying spend.
The share of unconnected subcontractor and external-worker cost that can qualify.
Sources: HMRC Research and Development Tax Credits Statistics (September 2025, tax year 2023-24). Software, data and cloud costs can qualify from 1 April 2023; the Additional Information Form has been mandatory since 8 August 2023. Not tax advice.
Does your engineering count as R&D?
HMRC rewards work that resolves genuine technical uncertainty - the kind a skilled professional couldn’t readily solve from what’s already known. For software teams, that’s often:
- Scaling a system past where known approaches break.
- Novel algorithms, ML/AI work, or hard distributed-systems problems.
- Integrations the documentation doesn't cover, needing real experimentation.
- Reliability, performance or security targets that took genuine trial and error.
Three steps, from code to filed.
Connect once; we do the digging and the writing. Your finished pack is expert-reviewed and ready to file - we don’t leave you holding a PDF and a phone number.
- 01
Connect, read-only
Authorise GitHub in a couple of clicks (GitLab, Jira and Linear are next). We read commit, PR and ticket text and metadata only - never your source code.
- 02
We build and review your pack
We reconstruct the advance, the uncertainty and the approach - each linked to the exact commits, PRs and tickets that prove it - and a competent professional reviews it before you rely on it.
- 03
File it, your way
When your pack is ready, file through your own accountant, or a regulated R&D tax professional we can introduce you to. We prepare the evidence; the filing is theirs.
Aven never files with HMRC, chooses your scheme or signs off your claim.
What you actually receive.
A structured, multi-page evidence pack built to HMRC's Additional Information Form - not a generic report. Delivered as a PDF and a CSV cost model, expert-reviewed and ready to hand to whoever files.
Evidence pack
Your Company Ltd · FY 2024–25
- 01Qualifying projects & narratives
- 02Linked commit / PR / ticket trail
- 03Qualifying-expenditure model
- 04Competent-professional statement
Inside every pack
Technical narratives
Advance, uncertainty and approach, written to the HMRC Additional Information Form structure.
Linked evidence trail
Every claim wired back to the exact commit, PR or ticket that proves it.
Qualifying-expenditure model
A conservative cost model across the categories HMRC recognises.
Ready to hand off
A PDF and CSV your accountant - or a regulated R&D tax professional we introduce - can file from.
Every claim line traces back to the work that proves it - built to withstand an HMRC enquiry.
Illustrative. Your pack reflects your own engineering history; your tax professional - your own, or one we can introduce you to - determines the final claim, scheme and amount.
Experts reduce the risk.
Upgrade when you want an R&D specialist to sharpen the story and flag weak points before your accountant reviews the pack.
- Technical uncertainty is clearly explained
- Narratives are backed by linked evidence
- Weak or risky areas are flagged before hand-off
See what you keep after fees.
Move the sliders for a deliberately low-balled, indicative range. It is not a quote and not tax advice - it's a reason to check your eligibility properly.
Aven does not determine your liability, select your scheme, or guarantee any amount - that’s your tax firm’s role. Final figures depend on an expert’s review.
Based on £260,000 of indicative qualifying staff cost and Aven’s conservative post-2024 merged-scheme range. Your tax firm selects the scheme and determines the final claim. It is not a quote.
The things serious teams ask first.
Q01Who is Aven for?
UK software companies whose engineers tackled genuine technical uncertainty - performance, architecture, scaling, data, reliability or similar hard problems.
Q02What do I get after the free check?
If your answers show a defensible path, you can choose a draft evidence pack for your accountant or add expert review for a stronger hand-off.
Q03Do you access or store our source code?
Never. Integrations are read-only - we pull commit, PR and ticket text and metadata only, encrypted at rest, and you can disconnect anytime.
Q04Is this automated?
Aven organises the engineering history automatically. You can then choose whether to add human expert review before sending the pack to your accountant.
Q05Will the numbers be inflated?
No. We're defensible, not maximised. Indicative figures are deliberately conservative ranges. Nothing here is a guarantee, and nothing here is tax advice.
Q06What's the pre-notification deadline?
For most claims you must notify HMRC within six months of your accounting period end. Miss it and the claim is forfeited - if your window has closed we'll tell you and won't take payment.
Q07Do you file my claim with HMRC?
No. Aven assembles defensible evidence for your accountant or R&D tax firm. Filing, liability, scheme selection and loss relief remain their responsibility.
See whether your work is defensible.
A free Eligibility & Readiness assessment - read-only, no card, no commitment. UK companies only.
UK only · read-only · source code never stored · not tax advice