Research and development tax incentive

We review behaviours of concern that result in incorrect Research and Development (R&D) tax offsets claims.

On this page

• R&D tax incentive administration
• Industries of concern
• Taxpayer alerts

R&D tax incentive administration

The ATO and AusIndustry (on behalf of Industry Innovation and Science Australia) jointly administer the research and development (R&D) tax incentive. The incentive aims to support companies that undertake eligible R&D activities. AusIndustry administers the registration and compliance of the R&D activities. We are responsible for the R&D expenditure claimed on the tax return.

We focus on claims:

• made by entities in particular industries
• related to particular behaviours.

Industries of concern

Four industries of concern have been identified:

• agriculture
• building and construction
• mining
• software development.

Particular behaviours of concern are:

• claiming the R&D tax offset on business-as-usual expenses
• apportionment of overheads between eligible and non-eligible R&D activities
• payments to associates
• whether or not expenses have been incurred
• approaches taken by R&D consultants
• fraudulent claims
• failure to keep records.

Taxpayer alerts

For more information on the R&D incentives and industries, see our taxpayer alerts:

• TA 2015/3 Accessing the R&D tax incentive for ineligible broadacre farming activities
• TA 2017/2 Claiming the R&D tax incentive for construction activities
• TA 2017/3 Claiming the R&D tax incentive for the ordinary business activities
• TA 2017/4 Claiming the R&D tax incentive for agricultural activities
• TA 2017/5 Claiming the R&D tax incentive for software development activities