The choice between a guided online portal and a full consultancy service isn't always obvious for your R&D tax credit claim. Myriad, one of Ireland's most established R&D tax consultancies, offers two routes: Tax Cloud, an online portal with guided self-service and expert review built in, and the full Myriad consultancy service, where the team manages the entire process on your behalf.
Both are backed by the same expert team. Both result in robust, Revenue-ready claims. The difference is in how the work gets done, how much time your team puts in, and what you pay.
How Tax Cloud works
Tax Cloud is Ireland's only online R&D tax credit portal. It guides you through the process of building and submitting your R&D claim via a structured online platform, with expert review at each stage before anything goes to Revenue.
In practice, you input your R&D project descriptions and qualifying costs through the portal. The platform provides templates, prompts, and automated calculations to structure your claim correctly. At each stage, a member of Myriad's expert team reviews the claim, checking that it is technically sound and that the figures are accurately calculated. The next stage is then unlocked for you to continue your claim.
The process typically takes around 10 hours of your team's time, spread across four to six weeks (of course, this would increase with more projects, or if complicated analysis is needed). That time is split between your finance analysis and a technical lead who can describe the R&D activities and why they qualify.
Tax Cloud fees are a tiered percentage of your R&D tax savings: 10% on the first €200,000 of corporation tax savings, and 5% on any savings above that, with a minimum fee of €2,750 plus VAT.
How the full Myriad service works
With the full Myriad consultancy service, the Myriad team takes on the claim process for you. After an initial conversation to understand your R&D projects, costs, and business context in detail, Myriad's advisers prepare the technical narrative, calculate the eligible costs, and manage the submission on your behalf.
Your involvement is primarily at the front end, providing information about your projects, costs, and any relevant supporting documentation. From there, Myriad handles the work, requiring only confirmation from your team before submission.
Full service fees are also tiered, starting at 15% for the first €50,000 and decreasing on any benefit received above that. Fixed-fee arrangements from €9,000 are also available, if this suits your claim better.
When Tax Cloud is the right choice
Tax Cloud works best for companies that have the internal capacity and a relatively straightforward R&D tax claim to make the self-serve model work.
You have time. If your finance and technical teams can collectively dedicate between 10 and 20 hours collectively to the process over a few weeks, Tax Cloud is workable. This is not a significant commitment, but it does need to be planned around existing workloads.
Your R&D is clear-cut. The portal is well-suited to companies whose qualifying projects are straightforward to describe and document. Software development, product improvement, manufacturing process development, and similar activities with well-defined R&D boundaries work well. If you’re confident that your activities qualify and can articulate why, the portal guides you through the rest.
Budget matters to you. For earlier-stage companies or those making smaller claims, the cost difference between Tax Cloud and a full-service consultant is at the top of your mind. Keeping more of your credit in the business is a priority, and Tax Cloud's fee structure is built to make that possible without sacrificing quality.
You want to understand your claim. Some Finance Directors and founders prefer to be close to the process. Using Tax Cloud builds institutional knowledge within the business, so that future claims are faster, easier, and less dependent on external support.
When the full Myriad service makes more sense
There are situations where delegating to a full consultancy is the more practical choice, whatever the fee difference.
Your claim is large or complex. For claims involving multiple overlapping projects, cross-border R&D, or areas where the technical eligibility isn’t clear-cut, Myriad's consultancy team brings depth of experience that the portal cannot replicate. For larger claims, the cost of full consultancy often pays for itself through the robustness and saved time.
Your team doesn't have capacity. If your technical and finance leads are fully stretched, asking them to own the claim process is not realistic. Delegating to Myriad is often the pragmatic choice when internal bandwidth is the limiting factor.
Your R&D involves grey areas. If you are unsure whether your projects qualify, or if your activities sit close to the boundary of Revenue's definition, expert consultancy assessment is worth the additional cost. If Revenue queries your claim, you’ll be glad to have the extra defence.
You simply prefer full delegation. Some business owners want to hand this over entirely and not think about it until the credit arrives. That is a legitimate preference that the full Myriad service is designed to serve.
What do Tax Cloud and Myriad have in common?
Tax Cloud is built and operated by Myriad. Every Tax Cloud claim is reviewed by the same expert team that prepares full consultancy claims. The difference is not in the quality of the output; it is in the division of labour and the fee structure that follows from it.
Using either service will result in a strong, defensible claim ready to withstand Revenue scrutiny. If your claim is picked up for an aspect query, no matter which service you used, the Myriad team will defend it, at no charge. Our guarantee covers your claim’s defence; if your claim is eventually rejected, we refund our fee and even contribute to your time spent on the claim.
Key takeaways
- Tax Cloud is a guided online portal with expert review built in, suited to companies with internal capacity, clear-cut R&D, and a preference for a lower fee.
- The full Myriad service handles the process end to end, suited to larger or more complex claims, or businesses that prefer to fully delegate.
- Fees differ: Tax Cloud charges 10% on savings up to €200,000 (5% above that), while full consultancy fees start at 15% and decrease proportional to your claim’s size.
- Both are backed by the same expert team. You are not trading quality for cost with Tax Cloud; you are trading involvement.
- The right choice depends on your claim size, internal capacity, complexity, and preference for control versus delegation.
If you're not sure which route fits your situation, that's exactly the kind of question we're set up to answer. Get in touch and we'll help you work out the best approach for your claim.
