For a company with a 30 June year end, two R&D Tax Incentive years are live at the same time during 2026-27. The FY26 claim, covering work done between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026, has to be registered with AusIndustry by 30 April 2027, and the FY27 work is happening now, which is when the records that will support next year's claim are made.
Register the FY26 claim by 30 April 2027
A company has 10 months from the end of its income year to register its R&D activities with AusIndustry, so for a 30 June year end the FY26 deadline is 30 April 2027. Registration comes first, and the company tax return claiming the offset is lodged once it is in place, which means the FY26 return cannot be finalised until the registration is done.
The registration describes each core and supporting R&D activity, the hypothesis behind it and the experiment that tested it, and it draws on the records kept during FY26. Starting the registration early leaves time to fill gaps while the people involved can still be asked, and lets the return and the offset follow sooner, which for a loss-making company is when the refund arrives.
The official guidance on timing is on the business.gov.au website.
Keep FY27 records as the work happens
The ATO expects R&D activities to be documented as they happen. Dated records made at the time, such as notes, lab logs, sprint logs, design documents, experimental results and internal reports, carry far more weight than an account written after the year has ended.
Good records show the hypothesis you were testing, the approach you took and the outcome, including where the experiment failed. A negative result helps show the work was experimental, provided the records also show the technical question you were trying to answer.
For software and product teams, sprint notes, Jira tickets, GitHub commits, specifications, background research and test reports can all form part of the evidence, and a short quarterly check that these are being kept, and that they connect to the activities you expect to register, is easier than reconstructing them in 2027.
Review which FY27 activities qualify
Core R&D activities are experimental activities whose outcome could not be known in advance from existing knowledge, information or experience, conducted for the purpose of generating new knowledge. Routine development, reproducing an existing solution and standard business analytics fall outside the definition.
The activities that most often fail this test are those where the technical approach was settled before the work began, where existing techniques were applied to a new product without a genuine technical question, or where the work was driven by a commercial goal with no experiment behind it. Drawing that line during the year, while the team can explain the work, gives a far clearer picture of the FY27 claim.
Connect the spending to the work
Only expenditure incurred on eligible activities can be claimed, so the connection between the money spent and the qualifying work needs to be recorded. For employees that means a time recording or allocation method used through the year. For contractors, the agreements need to show the work done and the amount paid, and the at-risk rule excludes expenditure the company would get back whatever the outcome of the R&D.
Where R&D produces goods that are sold or used in the business, the feedstock and clawback rules may reduce the benefit, and any R&D done overseas generally needs an advance or overseas finding before it can be claimed.
Check the turnover threshold for FY27
The refundable offset, at the company tax rate plus 18.5 percentage points, is available where aggregated turnover is below $20 million for the income year. For a base rate entity taxed at 25 per cent, that is 43.5 per cent of eligible expenditure. A company approaching $20 million, or whose group has changed through a raise or an acquisition, should confirm its position before planning around the refundable offset, since a company above the threshold receives a non-refundable offset instead.
How we can help
We prepare and lodge AusIndustry registrations, review FY27 activities and records during the year and build the expenditure schedules that support the claim in the company tax return. If you have an FY26 claim to register or want to set up FY27 records properly, get in touch with our team.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the FY26 R&D registration deadline?
For a company with a 30 June year end, R&D activities done between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026 must be registered with AusIndustry by 30 April 2027, which is 10 months after the end of the income year.
When is the FY27 R&D registration deadline?
For a 30 June year end, activities done between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027 must be registered by 30 April 2028.
What records does the ATO expect for an R&D claim?
Records made at the time the work was done that show the hypothesis, the experiment, the results and the conclusions, together with records linking expenditure, including staff time, to each registered activity.
What is the refundable R&D offset rate?
For a company with aggregated turnover below $20 million, the offset is the company tax rate plus 18.5 percentage points, which is 43.5 per cent for a company taxed at the 25 per cent base rate entity rate.
