Northern Ireland Corporate Tax Office (NIrCTO)
Source: gov.uk (2025-01-10)

The Northern Ireland Corporate Tax Office (NIrCTO) is part of HMRC, helping to promote corporate inward investment and local business expansion in Northern Ireland.

What is the Northern Ireland Corporate Tax Office (NIrCTO)

Established in July 2007 to help promote corporate inward investment and local business expansion in Northern Ireland, the NIrCTO works closely with:
- companies and their financial advisers
- local government
- regional economic development bodies
The NIrCTO has produced a leaflet to summarise their role and how they can help you.

(https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7f8d8a40f0b62305b87d7b/Investing_in_NI.pdf)

Investing in Northern Ireland (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7f8d8a40f0b62305b87d7b/Investing_in_NI.pdf)

PDF, 181 KB, 4 pages

What the Northern Ireland Corporate Tax Office (NIrCTO) can do for you

The NIrCTO can advise you, and your professional advisers, on the full range of HMRC business taxes and duties (https://www.gov.uk/topic/business-tax) affecting your proposed investment by:
- giving you early certainty on the tax consequences of commercial transactions that affect your proposed investment or expansion plans in Northern Ireland
- facilitating direct access to HMRC’s tax specialists
- helping to secure clearances and advance agreements in respect of your plans
- providing a local point of contact for advice and, in conjunction with the specialist Research & Development (R&D) units, help with claiming R&D Tax Relief, Patent Box, Creative Industry Tax Reliefs and other HMRC tax incentives
- fast tracking the service they provide where time is important
David Stewart OBE, Head of NIrCTO

Image of David Stewart, Head of the NlrCTO

As Head of the NIrCTO, David works closely with the Department for the Economy, Invest NI, local professional bodies and companies, to encourage local businesses involved in R&D to apply for R&D Tax Relief.

The NIrCTO was created to help promote inward investment and local business expansion and increase the level of awareness of R&D Tax Relief in Northern Ireland.

David was born and educated in Belfast and has worked for HMRC since 1985. During this time he has gained substantial experience in working with local business, local government and large multinational corporates. David is HMRC’s Northern Ireland R&D Tax Relief specialist and in 2017 was awarded an OBE for his services to inward investment to Northern Ireland.

Investing for the first time or expanding your company

If your company is investing In Northern Ireland for the first time or thinking of expanding your Northern Ireland based company, the NIrCTO:
- will work with you and your professional advisers in helping to identify the tax implications of your proposals — they can cover the full range of business taxes and duties (https://www.gov.uk/topic/business-tax) dealt with by HMRC
- can facilitate access to our network of technical tax specialists to provide clarity and early certainty on the tax consequences of the commercial transactions affecting your investment — where appropriate, this may include clearances and advance agreements which will be binding on HMRC
R&D Relief

The NIrCTO is your local point of contact in Northern Ireland for R&D Relief claims.

They can help you and your professional adviser:
- decide if your company qualifies for R&D Relief
- design simple processes to help make acceptable claims
- understand what records you need to keep
- facilitate access to HMRC’s specialist R&D units for specific help with your claim
Information on R&D schemes

Find out about claiming Research and Development (R&D) tax relief (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/research-and-development-rd-tax-relief).

Find out about Research and Development tax relief: the merged scheme and enhanced intensive support (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/research-and-development-rd-tax-relief-the-merged-scheme-and-enhanced-rd-intensive-support).

Find out about Research and Development (R&D) Tax Relief: Enhanced R&D intensive support for loss-making SMEs based in Northern Ireland (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/research-and-development-rd-tax-relief-enhanced-rd-intensive-support-for-loss-making-smes-based-in-northern-ireland).

Contact the Northern Ireland Corporate Tax Office (NIrCTO)

You can contact the Northern Ireland Corporate Tax Office (NIrCTO) (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/northern-ireland-corporate-tax-office).