Recent News

Deadline approaching for lodgement of Overseas Findings for R&D Activity first conducted in FY26

June 4th, 2026

Companies seeking to claim expenditure for overseas activity incurred by an Australian company under the R&D Tax Incentive must apply separately to claim these costs by first lodging an Overseas Finding Application with AusIndustry. In addition to general eligibility criteria, there are specific and extensive rules to determine whether expenditure on overseas activities is eligible under the R&D Tax Incentive. Generally, expenditure incurred by Australian companies on R&D activities conducted overseas can only be eligible for the R&D Tax Incentive where: The […]

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Media coverage of business response to proposed R&D Tax Changes announced in May Budget

June 1st, 2026

In the Federal Budget handed down on 12 May 2026, The Government proposed major structural changes to the R&D Tax Incentive (RDTI). These changes are proposed to commence on 1 July 2028. Proposed reforms include: Increasing the offset for experimental ‘core’ R&D by around 25 to 50 per cent and removing eligibility for expenditure that only supports R&D. The intensity threshold will reduce from 2 per cent to 1.5 per cent, providing higher offsets to firms undertaking substantial core R&D. Expenditure […]

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Significant concerns over announcement in May 2026 to limit Refundable R&D Tax Offset to firms operating less than 10 years

May 18th, 2026

Swanson Reed’s initial analysis of the R&D announcements in May 2026 are summarised here. After we considered these proposed changes in greater detail, we are particularly alarmed about a proposed change announced in the Budget to the R&D Tax Incentive that we feel has not been communicated well nor understood by those whom it may impact… We fear the announced proposal to limit access to the Refundable R&D Tax Offset to firms operating less than ten years will be determined based on an […]

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May 2026 Federal Budget Update: Significant future changes proposed to R&D Tax Incentive

May 13th, 2026

Leading up to the May 2026 Federal Budget there were reports of modest changes likely to be made to the R&D Tax Incentive (mainly around increases to expenditure thresholds) however there was not expected to be any major reforms announced given that: The Government had only recently (in March 2026) received the final report from The Strategic Examination of R&D; It was anticipated that The Government would conduct consultation before proposing any major changes to th R&D Tax Incentive. Surprisingly, in the […]

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