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Clause

Who signs the claim

The clause that says whose name goes on the claim, who approves the final version and whether the adviser is named where the form asks. It is where responsibility for the claim is written down.

This page explains a common clause in general terms. It is not legal advice, and contract law differs between countries. Ask a lawyer to review your own engagement letter.

Sample clause

Written for this guide, not from any real contract

1 The Client is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the Claim and will sign the Claim and the tax return in which it is made. 2 Where the claim form in the Client's country asks for the details of the people who prepared the Claim, we will provide our details. 3 We will not file the Claim until the Client has approved the final version in writing. 4 The Client confirms that the people who carried out the work described in the Claim have reviewed the technical descriptions. 5 We do not give an opinion on whether the Claim will be accepted by the tax authority.

  1. Your name, your responsibility. This is how the tax system works, whatever the letter says elsewhere.
  2. The adviser is named where the form asks. Some letters are silent on this; ask.
  3. Nothing is filed without your written approval of the final version. A summary is not the final version.
  4. Your technical people have read the descriptions. Make sure the process gives them the time to do it.
  5. No opinion on acceptance. Not a flaw, and a reason to ask how the adviser decides what qualifies.

What it means in plain English

The claim is made in your name, and this clause is where a letter says so in terms: you are responsible for its accuracy and completeness. The sample then adds four things that make that responsibility workable. The adviser gives its own details where the claim form in your country, or the return it goes with, asks for the people who prepared it.1Source 1What the claim form, or the return it is attached to, asks about the people who prepared it: Canada Revenue Agency, Guide T4088, Part 9 "Claim preparer information" (Form T661), and Income Tax Act section 162(5.1) to (5.3) (Canada); Internal Revenue Code section 6695(b) and (c), 26 CFR 1.6109-2 and IRS, Instructions for Form 6765 (United States); HMRC, "Submit detailed information before you claim Research and Development (R&D) tax relief" and manual CIRD182000 (United Kingdom). More detail on your country page. Nothing is filed until you have approved the final version in writing. You confirm that the people who did the technical work have read the technical descriptions. And the adviser says plainly that it is not giving an opinion on whether the claim will be accepted.

The second and third of those are the ones that protect you: a claim you have read, and that your engineers have read, is a claim you can stand behind.

What to look for

A version that is easy to live with gives you the full claim, with the calculations and the technical case, before filing and with time to read it, makes your written approval a condition of filing, names the adviser on the form wherever the form provides for it, and does not ask you to warrant things you cannot check.

A version to ask more about lets the adviser file under an authority you gave at the start, treats your approval of a summary as approval of the claim, is silent on whether the adviser will be named where the form asks, or asks you to confirm the technical descriptions are accurate without providing for your technical people to read them. A statement that the adviser gives no opinion on acceptance is not a flaw; it is a reason to ask how the adviser decides what qualifies.

Contract law differs by country, and so does what a letter can and cannot do. Ask a lawyer to review your own letter before you sign it.

Questions to ask

Sources

  1. What the claim form, or the return it is attached to, asks about the people who prepared it: Canada Revenue Agency, Guide T4088, Part 9 "Claim preparer information" (Form T661), and Income Tax Act section 162(5.1) to (5.3) (Canada); Internal Revenue Code section 6695(b) and (c), 26 CFR 1.6109-2 and IRS, Instructions for Form 6765 (United States); HMRC, "Submit detailed information before you claim Research and Development (R&D) tax relief" and manual CIRD182000 (United Kingdom). More detail on your country page.  Back

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