SR&ED for Frontend Consultancies

Your design systems and platform engineering qualify for SR&ED.

Building component libraries, design systems, custom renderers, and cross-platform frameworks involves real technological uncertainty. That's claimable R&D.

What Qualifies

Work you're already doing.

SR&ED eligibility comes down to technological uncertainty and systematic investigation. Here's what that looks like in your world.

Design system engineering

Can we build a component library that handles these accessibility, theming, and performance constraints simultaneously?

Developing custom design systems with novel composition patterns, runtime theming, complex state management, or accessibility solutions that go beyond existing frameworks.

Custom rendering & layout engines

Can we render this complex interactive content within the browser's performance constraints?

Building custom rendering pipelines, virtual scrolling systems, or layout engines for complex data visualization, collaborative editing, or real-time UI.

Cross-platform development

Can we achieve native-quality performance with a shared codebase across these platforms?

Developing novel approaches to cross-platform rendering, platform-specific optimizations, or shared business logic that required systematic experimentation.

Advanced CSS & animation systems

Can we achieve this level of animation fluidity without janking the main thread?

Creating custom animation frameworks, GPU-accelerated transitions, or novel CSS architectures that push browser capabilities beyond documented patterns.

Performance engineering

Can we get this complex app to load in under 1 second on mobile while preserving interactivity?

Systematic experimentation with code splitting, lazy loading, service workers, or edge rendering to achieve performance targets that standard approaches couldn't meet.

Platform migration & modernization

Can we migrate this legacy system to a modern architecture without service interruption or data loss?

Developing novel migration strategies, compatibility layers, or incremental adoption patterns for moving large-scale applications between platforms.

Know the Line

Eligible vs. not eligible.

SR&ED rewards work that pushes the boundaries of what's known, not routine development. Here's how CRA draws the line.

Developing a design system with runtime theme switching, complex compound components, and a custom accessibility layer — required months of iteration on the component API.

Installing a component library like shadcn/ui and customizing the theme tokens to match the brand.

Building a custom virtual canvas renderer for a collaborative whiteboard that handles 10K+ objects with real-time multi-user cursors — no existing library supported the requirements.

Implementing a standard drag-and-drop interface using React DnD with documented patterns.

Creating a novel code-splitting strategy for a 500-page Next.js app that reduced initial load by 80% — standard dynamic imports couldn't handle the dependency graph.

Adding next/dynamic to lazy-load a few heavy components below the fold.

Engineering a cross-platform component system that renders natively on iOS, Android, and web from a single source — required building a custom abstraction layer over platform primitives.

Building a React Native app using standard components and following the official getting started guide.

Worked Example

The math behind your refund.

Ontario CCPC · $1.5M R&D salaries · No contractors

Eligible expenditures

R&D salaries$1,500,000
Proxy overhead (55%)$825,000
Total qualified$2,325,000

Tax credits

Ontario OITC (8%)$186,000
Ontario ORDTC (3.5%)$74,865
Federal ITC (35% CCPC)$722,447
Total credits$983,312
Your estimated CRA refund$983,312

Traditional Consultant

$294,994

30% of claim

You keep $688,318

Shreddit (Pay Later)

$98,331

10% of claim

Save $196,663 vs consultant

Shreddit (Pay Now)

$49,166

5% of claim

Save $245,828 vs consultant

How Shreddit Helps

From your workflow to your refund.

Frontend and platform consultancies produce some of the most SR&ED-eligible work in tech — but it often goes unclaimed because it doesn't “look like R&D” to traditional consultants. Building design systems, custom renderers, and performance-optimized platforms absolutely qualifies when it involves technological uncertainty.

Shreddit connects to your GitHub, Linear, and Jira to track the experimentation that defines your work — the PR iterations, the architectural pivots, the performance benchmarks that prove systematic investigation. We understand what CRA considers eligible in frontend engineering.

For consultancies building platforms across multiple clients, Shreddit identifies eligible work at scale. Every client engagement that pushes technical boundaries becomes a potential SR&ED claim — without adding any overhead to your team.

Learn more about how SR&ED works

More Use Cases

SR&ED works across verticals.

Platform engineering is R&D. Claim what you're owed.

Join the waitlist and see how much your frontend work qualifies for.

Managing multiple clients? Join our Partner Program