R&D tax credits for deeptech.
From quantum and robotics to semiconductors, photonics and advanced materials, deeptech teams in the UAE are working at the edge of what is scientifically possible. That work is often strongly qualifying for the R&D Tax Credit — the discipline is proving precisely which part.
How qualifying R&D shows up in deeptech.
The UAE regime tests every project against the five OECD Frascati criteria. Here is what each looks like in a lab, on a wafer, or in an autonomous system.
Novel
Work aimed at knowledge or capability that does not yet exist in the field
Creative
Original physics, architectures or materials, not routine application.
Uncertain
Whether the device, process or system can be made to work is unknown.
Systematic
Planned, instrumented experiments and iterative characterisation.
Transferable
Results reproducible and generalisable beyond a single build.
The kind of work that qualifies.
Illustrative projects across upstream, downstream and the energy transition. Eligibility is always confirmed project by project.
Quantum computing & sensing
Building qubits, control electronics or sensors where coherence, error rates or readout are genuinely uncertain.
Autonomous systems
Manipulation, perception or navigation in unstructured environments that resist established methods.
Chip & hardware design
Novel device architectures, process nodes or packaging where yield and performance are unproven.
Optics & photonics
Integrated photonics, lasers or optical systems pushed beyond available component performance
Advanced & novel materials
Nanomaterials, composites or alloys engineered for properties no existing material provides.
Frontier prototypes
First-of-kind hardware where the route from concept to working prototype is uncertain.
Genuine R&D, not routine engineering.
The value we add is drawing this line correctly — claiming what qualifies, and defending it, while leaving out what does not.
- Resolving scientific or technological uncertainty in a device, material or process.
- Iterative prototyping, characterisation and test to prove a concept works.
- Novel architectures, physics or materials with no established solution.
- Engineering performance beyond what current components or methods allow.
- Assembling proven components to a known specification.
- Applying an established, characterised process without uncertainty.
- Routine testing to a standard once the method is settled.
- Market or commercial analysis with no technical uncertainty.
£50M+
claimed across 450+ UK companies with a 100% audit success record — including complex, engineering-heavy claims in energy and industrials. The same chartered method now applies to the UAE.
“RDvault is a user-friendly solution that saved us countless hours on documentation and compliance.”
Voltaware — RDvault client
A UAE Deeptech and Frontier Technology case study will feature here as claims complete under the new regime.
Our work is very early-stage research. Does it qualify?
Frontier research is often exactly where qualifying R&D sits — provided it is systematic and aimed at resolving a genuine scientific or technological uncertainty. We help evidence that rigour.
We build hardware prototypes that fail often. Is that a problem?
The opposite — uncertainty of outcome is one of the five criteria. Failed iterations, when part of a planned investigation, are strong evidence that the work was genuine R&D.
Some of our work overlaps with AI or manufacturing. Where does it sit?
Deeptech projects often span sectors. Eligibility follows the uncertainty, not the label — we assess each project against the five criteria wherever the hard technical problem actually lies.
What evidence will we need?
Contemporaneous records: the technological uncertainty, the experiments and prototypes built to resolve it, and project-level cost and staff-time allocation. We build this as the work happens — and pre-approval is mandatory before claiming.
Building at the frontier? Let’s find what qualifies.
We assess your projects against the five criteria, handle pre-approval, and build the evidence — before a single figure is claimed.
