How big is Australia’s R&D Tax Incentive? In the 2023-24 income year, 13,901 companies registered for the R&D Tax Incentive (R&DTI) with $17.7 billion in registered estimated R&D expenditure – the largest year on record.[3] The latest ATO claims data (2022-23) shows 12,956 companies claimed $16.2 billion of R&D expenditure.[1] In the same year the program delivered $4.0 billion in refundable R&D tax offset payments to 10,882 companies, and a further $2.2 billion in non-refundable offsets was used by 1,034 larger companies.[8]
This page collects the key published statistics on the Australian R&D Tax Incentive in one place. Every figure is taken directly from a primary government source – ATO transparency reports, Industry Innovation and Science Australia (IISA) annual reports, Treasury’s Tax Expenditures and Insights Statement and the 2026-27 Budget papers – and each is footnoted to its source. Journalists, researchers and publishers are welcome to cite these figures with attribution and a link to this page.
Last updated June 2026 – updated annually as new government data is released.
Key facts: Australian R&D Tax Incentive
- 13,901 registrations in 2023-24, representing 16,478 R&D performing entities – the program’s largest year (DISR/IISA, as at 30 June 2025).[3]
- $17.7 billion in registered estimated R&D expenditure in 2023-24, up from $12.7 billion in 2019-20.[3][7]
- 12,956 companies claimed $16.2 billion of R&D expenditure in their 2022-23 tax returns (ATO transparency data, the latest published claim year).[1]
- $4.0 billion in refundable R&D tax offsets was paid to 10,882 companies in 2022-23; 1,034 larger companies used $2.2 billion of non-refundable offsets (Treasury).[8]
- 88% of registrants are small to medium companies, and around 1 in 5 registrants each year are new to the program.[3]
- Professional, scientific and technical services is the top industry: 44% of claims and $6.19 billion of claimed expenditure in 2022-23.[1]
- The largest single claim published to date is Atlassian Australia 1 Pty Ltd at $220.2 million (2022-23).[1]
- The 2026-27 Federal Budget announced 7 major R&DTI changes from 1 July 2028, including a 4.5 percentage point rise in core R&D offset rates (not yet law).[9]
Registrations: five-year trend
Companies must register their R&D activities with AusIndustry (Department of Industry, Science and Resources) before claiming the offset through their tax return. Registrations have grown in each of the past four years, reaching a record 13,901 in 2023-24.[3]
| Income year | Registrations | R&D performing entities | Registered estimated R&D expenditure | New to program |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | 12,330 | 14,040 | $12.70 billion | 2,265 (16.1%) |
| 2020-21 | 12,090 | 13,960 | $13.06 billion | 2,591 (18.6%) |
| 2021-22 | 12,762 | 14,740 | $15.26 billion | 2,607 (20.4%) |
| 2022-23 | 13,116 | 15,324 | $16.7 billion | 2,568 (20%) |
| 2023-24 | 13,901 | 16,478 | $17.7 billion | 2,914 (21%) |
Sources: IISA annual reports 2020-21 to 2024-25.[3][4][5][6][7] Each year is reported as at 30 June of the following year. DISR notes the latest year is incomplete at extraction and figures are revised upwards as late registrations are processed.
Registered R&D expenditure by year
$12.70b
$13.06b
$15.26b
$16.7b
$17.7b
Two longer-run markers: at the program’s 10th anniversary in 2021, IISA reported the R&DTI had “supported well over 30,000 companies in its lifetime”, with 2,000 to 3,000 businesses registering for the first time each year.[6] In 2023-24, software development and product R&D rose to 50% of all registered R&D activities, up from 46% the year before.[3]
Claimed expenditure: ATO transparency data
The ATO publishes company-level R&DTI claim data two years after each income year. The latest report, published 25 September 2025, covers 2022-23. Note that ATO claim figures differ slightly from DISR registration figures: registration happens first and uses estimated expenditure, while the ATO reports what companies actually claimed in their tax returns.
| Measure | 2021-22 | 2022-23 |
|---|---|---|
| Companies that claimed R&D expenditure | 11,545 | 12,956 |
| Total R&D expenditure claimed | $11.2 billion | $16.2 billion |
| Claimed by public and multinational businesses | $4.9 billion | $8.7 billion |
| Claimed by privately owned and wealthy groups | $4.1 billion | $5.0 billion |
| Claimed by small businesses | $2.2 billion | $2.4 billion |
| Australian-owned share of claimants | 97.8% | 93% |
Sources: ATO R&D tax incentive transparency reports 2021-22 and 2022-23.[1][2] The 2021-22 report excluded around 850 companies with substituted accounting periods, which partly explains the jump between years.
Who claims: business population mix (2022-23)
| Business population | Claimants | Share | Total claimed | Average claim |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small businesses (turnover under $10m) | 6,016 | 46% | $2.4 billion | $403,232 |
| Privately owned and wealthy groups | 4,507 | 35% | $5.0 billion | $1,111,133 |
| Public and multinational businesses | 2,428 | 19% | $8.7 billion | $3,599,102 |
Source: ATO transparency report 2022-23.[1] Derived from the same report: the overall average claim across all 12,956 companies is roughly $1.25 million. The ATO does not publish a median claim size.
What the program costs
Treasury’s 2025-26 Tax Expenditures and Insights Statement (December 2025) reports the program’s two components separately:[8]
- Refundable offset (aggregated turnover under $20 million): in 2022-23, 10,882 companies claimed it and total government payments were $4.0 billion. Companies with turnover between $2 million and $20 million were 29% of recipients but used 50% of the total offset.
- Non-refundable offset (turnover of $20 million or more): in 2022-23, 1,034 companies used $2.2 billion of offsets, with revenue forgone of $800 million relative to an ordinary deduction. 80% of the offset used went to companies with turnover above $100 million.
Adding the two components (derived from the same Treasury source), the R&DTI delivered roughly $6.2 billion in total offsets in 2022-23. For context, IISA’s 2021-22 annual report put the program’s net annual cost to government at “around $2.7 billion” in revenue forgone and refunds, and its 2023-24 report called the R&DTI a “flagship $3 billion program” – the fiscal cost has grown steadily, which is one driver of the 2026-27 Budget reforms below.[4][6]
Top industries
R&DTI expenditure claimed by industry in 2022-23 (ATO transparency data, ANZSIC divisions, top 6 of 20):[1]
| Industry | R&D expenditure claimed (2022-23) | Claimants |
|---|---|---|
| Professional, scientific and technical services | $6.19 billion | 5,663 (44% of claims) |
| Manufacturing | $3.57 billion | 2,638 |
| Mining | $1.48 billion | not in top 5 by claimant count |
| Wholesale trade | $0.92 billion | 734 |
| Information media and telecommunications | $0.82 billion | 621 |
| Financial and insurance services | $0.80 billion | 530 |
Claimed R&D expenditure by industry (2022-23)
$6.19b
$3.57b
$1.48b
$0.92b
$0.82b
$0.80b
Treasury’s distributional analysis adds a refundable/non-refundable lens: use of the non-refundable offset (larger companies) is most concentrated in manufacturing (27% of offsets used), mining (21%) and professional, scientific and technical services (20%).[8]
Largest published claims (2022-23)
The ten largest R&D expenditure claims published in the ATO’s 2022-23 transparency data:[1]
| Company | Total R&D expenditure claimed |
|---|---|
| Atlassian Australia 1 Pty Ltd | $220,184,724 |
| Fortescue Ltd | $150,753,868 |
| Cochlear Limited | $136,678,581 |
| GOTW Pty Ltd | $118,126,096 (amended to $117,672,586) |
| CSL Limited | $111,543,007 |
| ResMed Holdings Pty Ltd | $106,731,383 |
| Chevron Australia Holdings Pty Ltd | $95,768,477 |
| Lanai (AU) 1 Pty Ltd | $80,945,334 |
| Rio Tinto Limited | $73,157,842 |
| Grinding Media Pty Ltd | $68,814,589 |
Budget 2026-27: what is changing
On 12 May 2026 the Government announced a major redesign of the R&DTI as the first stage of its response to the Ambitious Australia: Strategic Examination of Research and Development final report. The changes take effect from 1 July 2028 and apply to all R&D entities. They are not yet law.[9][10]
| Change | Current | From 1 July 2028 |
|---|---|---|
| Core R&D offset rates | 8.5 to 18.5 points above company tax rate | Increase of 4.5 percentage points |
| Supporting R&D activities | Eligible | Removed from eligibility |
| Intensity premium threshold | 2% of expenditure | 1.5% |
| Refundable offset turnover threshold | $20 million | $50 million |
| Refundability | No age limit | Limited to companies under 10 years old |
| Maximum expenditure threshold | $150 million | $200 million |
| Minimum expenditure threshold | $20,000 | $50,000 |
Budget Paper No. 2 estimates the package will “decrease receipts by $910.0 million and decrease payments by $1.6 billion over the five years from 2025-26”.[9] For a plain-language walkthrough of what the changes mean for claimants, see our R&D Tax Incentive advisory page.
Program integrity and administration
- The R&DTI is jointly administered by AusIndustry (DISR) and the ATO. A joint random sample review of 2021-22 registrations and claims concluded in 2024-25 and will inform future risk-based integrity work.[3]
- More than 95% of registration applications were processed within target time frames in each of the last three reported cycles.[3][4][5]
- Advance Finding assessment times fell from around 200 days to under 72 days, and 215 Advance and Overseas Findings were sought in 2024-25.[3][4]
- The ATO has issued Taxpayer Alerts TA 2023/4 and TA 2023/5 on R&D arrangements involving associated entities and overseas activities, and R&D offsets fall within the Part IVA general anti-avoidance rule from 1 July 2021.[1]
- Four new R&DTI review applications were lodged with the AAT in 2023-24; none proceeded to a final hearing.[4]
What the published data does not show
To keep this page accurate, here is what is not published anywhere in the official data, as of June 2026:
- State or territory breakdowns – neither the ATO transparency reports nor IISA annual reports publish registrations or claims by state.
- Median claim size – only averages by business population are published.
- Refundable vs non-refundable status per company – the ATO transparency data deliberately excludes offset amounts and offset type. Aggregate splits come from Treasury only.
- ATO claim data after 2022-23 – the next transparency report (2023-24 data) is scheduled for late September 2026.[1]
- Complete 2023-24 registration data – DISR notes the 2023-24 figures are incomplete as at 30 June 2025 and subject to change.[3]
Methodology and sources
All figures on this page were extracted directly from the primary source documents below on 12 June 2026. Where two official sources differ (DISR registration data vs ATO claim data), both are shown and the difference explained rather than reconciled. Derived figures (simple division or addition of published numbers) are labelled as derived. This page is reviewed and updated annually, and after major policy events such as Budget announcements.
- ATO, R&D tax incentive transparency report 2022-23, published 25 September 2025.
- ATO, R&D tax incentive transparency report 2021-22, published 3 October 2024.
- Industry Innovation and Science Australia, Annual Report 2024-25 (PDF), November 2025.
- Industry Innovation and Science Australia, Annual Report 2023-24 (PDF), November 2024.
- Industry Innovation and Science Australia, Annual Report 2022-23 (PDF), November 2023.
- Industry Innovation and Science Australia, Annual Report 2021-22 (PDF), November 2022.
- Industry Innovation and Science Australia, Annual Report 2020-21 (PDF), October 2021.
- Australian Treasury, 2025-26 Tax Expenditures and Insights Statement, December 2025 (sections 2.11 and 2.12).
- Australian Treasury, Budget Paper No. 2, 2026-27 Budget (PDF), 12 May 2026 – “Tax Reform – better targeting the Research and Development Tax Incentive”.
- ATO, Tax Reform – better targeting the Research and Development Tax Incentive, published 12 May 2026.
- ATO via data.gov.au, Report of data about research and development tax incentive entities (company-level dataset underlying the transparency reports).
Estimate your own R&D claim
Prime Partners is a chartered accounting firm advising Australian companies on the R&D Tax Incentive on a fixed-fee basis. If you are weighing up a claim:
Use the R&D Tax Incentive Calculator R&D Tax Incentive Advisory