What is Research & Development (R&D) Tax Incentive?
Research and Development (R&D) Tax Incentive is a program jointly administered by Department of Industry, Science and Resources on behalf of Industry Innovation and Science Australia (IISA) and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
The program helps Australian companies innovate and grow by offsetting some of the costs of eligible Research and Development (R&D) activities.
The R&D tax offset you can claim depends on your company’s aggregated turnover:
For companies with aggregated turnover under $20 million, the R&D tax offset is refundable and equals to your company tax rate plus an 18.5% premium.
For companies with aggregated turnover of $20 million or more, the R&D tax offset is non‑refundable. The offset equals to your company tax rate plus a premium, and the premium depends on R&D intensity.
Applications to register R&D activities are due 10 months after the end of the relevant financial year in which the eligible R&D activities took place. Example: For a company with a 30 June financial year-end, the R&D registration deadline is 30 April of the following year.
We help you access the R&D Tax Incentive
We help Australian companies bring innovative ideas to life through the R&D Tax Incentive, with a focus on eligibility, documentation and compliance.
The R&D Tax Incentive is targeted towards companies undertaking eligible R&D activities to develop new or improved materials, products, devices, processes or services whose outcome cannot be known or determined in advance based on current knowledge, information or experience.
Our experienced R&D tax advisers have strong science and engineering background and provide practical, specialist support throughout the R&D Tax Incentive process.
How our R&D team can help
R&D activities must satisfy specific legislative requirements, and it can be complex to identify eligible R&D activities when applying these requirements to your particular project. The activities claimed also need to be linked to the relevant expenditure, with appropriate records and evidence maintained to support the claim.
Our R&D team provides specialist support throughout the claim process, helping you navigate these requirements and prepare a structured and well-supported claim.
We support you through the following process:
Review of R&D Activities
We review your project activities to identify eligible R&D activities that may satisfy the legislative requirements.
Assessment of R&D Expenditure
We review expenditure associated with your R&D activities and help determine what may be eligible. R&D expenditure must be linked to the relevant R&D activities and supported by appropriate records.
Record-Keeping & Documentation
We identify documentation gaps and help establish practical record-keeping processes that capture the evidence required to support your R&D activities and expenditure claim.
Application Preparation or Review
We prepare or review your R&D Tax Incentive application to ensure the activities, supporting evidence and expenditure are appropriately reflected in the claim.
Compliance & Audit Support
We help you understand your ongoing record-keeping and compliance obligations and provide support if your claim is reviewed or audited.