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DroneShield Ltd has used Australia’s refundable R&D Tax Offset to become Australian Success Story

September 3rd, 2025 DroneShield Ltd has used Australia's refundable R&D Tax Offset to become Australian Success Story

One of the best performing stocks on the ASX over the past few years has been Sydney based DroneShield Ltd which has seen the stock price rise from approximately $0.20 in September 2022 to $3.20 in September 2025.

DroneShield Ltd has become a world-leading Australian developer of AI-powered counter-drone and electronic warfare solutions, and has recently announced a number of substantial contracts with international governments amid an environment of increased government expenditure on defence.

In addition to its warfare solutions, DroneShield Ltd has also announced the launch of SentryCiv, a subscription-based AI-enabled counterdrone solution, which it specifically designed for the civilian rather than military markets.

DroneShield Ltd has established itself as one of Australia’s technology and commercial success stories, and this success has come in a relatively short period considering the company’s present day multi-billion dollar market capitalisation.
In DroneShield Ltd’s early days, funding seemed not as readily available and as recently as 2020, the company was announcing to the ASX that it was borrowing against its anticipated R&D Tax Offset refunds.
According to Chat GPT,  DroneShield Ltd received the following refunds from the R&D Tax Incentive in recent years:
  • 2017 ~ A$400,000R&D Tax Incentive
  • 2019 ~ A$485,351R&D Tax Incentive
  • 2020 ~ A$1.1 millionR&D Tax Incentive
  • 2021 ~ A$2 millionR&D Tax Incentive
  • 2023 ~ A$2.4 million  R&D Tax Incentive
Given the company’s commercial success it likely no longer qualifies for the refundable R&D Tax offset.
Once the company achieves sales turnover greater than $20M, it can no longer receive substantial refunds under the R&D Tax Incentive, however DroneShield Ltd is another example of how the incentive can be used as a springboard to launch an Australian success story.

Please get in touch with our office if you require assistance, would like to speak to someone about a potential claim, or check out our website for more information.

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