For the concept of R&D to mean anything, the D has to imply development in the sense of translating the R part—research—into prototypes or new products. It can't just be classifying every web developer in the organization as part of the R&D department, even if they're a junior dev changing button labels on internal accounting software. Not saying that Amazon is using the term the way I'd like, just that if they aren't, my English degree is going to start smoking and vibrating.

Research and Development ( R&D ) tax relief supports companies that work on innovative projects in science and technology. You may be able to claim Corporation Tax relief if your project meets the standard definition of R&D .

Not in the UK and most EU law is identical to UK.

Not sure. The D in R&D stands for, I imagine, development of the business, whereas the one in software development stands for development of software.