De minimis state aid refers to the state help to the companies in relatively small amounts, which allows EU countries not to notify the European Commission about.
The SME R&D Tax relief scheme is classed as Notified State aid and therefore is not a de minimis state aid, meaning the SME company which has a project entirely or partially funded by notified state aid grant cannot claim SME R&D Tax relief. The RDEC scheme, however, can still be claimed even with the funding.
Where an SME receives de minimis state aid, only the proportion of the funded project should go through the RDEC scheme. The remainder will be claimed using the SME scheme.