R&D tax credits for fintech.
From DIFC and ADGM-licensed firms to crypto and digital-asset builders, UAE fintechs are pushing systems past their known limits on latency, scale and security. That work often qualifies for the R&D Tax Credit — the discipline is proving precisely which part.
How qualifying R&D shows up in fintech.
The UAE regime tests every project against the five OECD Frascati criteria. Here is what each looks like in a ledger, a settlement path, or a fraud model.
Novel
A settlement, cryptographic or consensus method not already available.
Creative
Original mechanisms, not the routine assembly of known components.
Uncertain
Whether it holds at required latency, scale or security is unknown.
Systematic
Planned load tests, proofs and iterations, properly documented.
Transferable
Results reproducible across environments and volumes.
The kind of work that qualifies.
Illustrative projects across upstream, downstream and the energy transition. Eligibility is always confirmed project by project.
High-throughput settlement engine
A settlement or ledger system reaching throughput or finality that available databases cannot support.
Applied cryptography
Novel cryptographic or consensus mechanisms for a regulated digital-asset platform.
Cross-chain interoperability
Bridging or interoperability methods that resolve security and consistency problems with no proven answer.
Programmable compliance
Embedding regulatory logic into transaction flows in ways existing platforms cannot express.
Additive manufacturing
New materials or additive methods requiring iterative process development.
Materials engineering
Developing or adapting materials to perform where existing ones fail.
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.
- Pushing a system beyond known limits of latency, scale or security.
- Developing novel cryptography, consensus or interoperability with uncertain outcomes.
- Modelling fraud or risk where a new technical approach is required.
- Systematic experimentation to resolve a genuine technological uncertainty.
- Wiring up an existing payment gateway or KYC provider.
- Building standard CRUD screens, dashboards or reports.
- Configuring off-the-shelf ledger or exchange software.
- Commercial or regulatory 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.
“Very easy to use, great support and transparent pricing. The team guided us through every step of our claim.”
VoxSmart — financial technology client
A UAE fintech case study will feature here as claims complete under the new regime.
Does blockchain integration qualify?
Integrating an existing chain to spec usually does not. But developing novel consensus, cryptography or interoperability to solve a problem with no established solution frequently does. We assess each project on the technical uncertainty involved.
We build on existing rails. Can we claim?
Often, yes — where your team did genuine development to extend those rails beyond their known limits on latency, scale or security. Simply configuring proven components does not qualify.
Is fraud and AML work eligible?
It can be. Rule tuning is routine, but building detection methods where the modelling approach itself is uncertain and requires experimentation can qualify.
What evidence will we need?
Contemporaneous records: the technical uncertainty, the work done 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 fintech? 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.
