13,901 companies registered in 2023-24 with $17.7 billion of estimated R&D expenditure, the largest year the program has had. The ATO's latest claim data, for 2022-23, shows 12,956 companies claiming $16.2 billion.
Every figure on this page comes from a primary government source, the ATO transparency reports, the Industry Innovation and Science Australia annual reports, Treasury's Tax Expenditures and Insights Statement and the Budget papers, and each one is attributed. Journalists, researchers and publishers are welcome to cite these figures with a link back to this page.
Two official sources count different things and do not agree, so both are shown rather than reconciled. AusIndustry registration data records what companies estimated they would spend, and comes first. ATO claim data records what they actually claimed in a tax return, and is published two years behind. Anything worked out by adding or dividing published figures is labelled as derived.
In 2023-24, covering 16,478 R&D performing entities. The largest year the program has had, as at 30 June 2025.
Estimated R&D expenditure registered in 2023-24, up from $12.7 billion in 2019-20.
By 12,956 companies in their 2022-23 tax returns, which is the latest published claim year.
Paid as refundable offsets to 10,882 companies in 2022-23. Another 1,034 larger companies used $2.2 billion of non-refundable offsets.
And around one registrant in five each year is new to the program.
44 per cent of claims and $6.19 billion of claimed expenditure in 2022-23.
The largest single claim published to date, by Atlassian Australia 1 Pty Ltd in 2022-23.
Announced in the 2026-27 Federal Budget, including a 4.5 percentage point rise in core offset rates. Not yet law.
A company has to register its activities with AusIndustry, part of the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, before claiming the offset in its tax return.
| Income year | Registrations | R&D performing entities | Registered estimated expenditure | New to the 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%) |
Source: IISA annual reports 2020-21 to 2024-25. Each year is reported as at 30 June of the following year. The department notes the latest year is incomplete at extraction and is revised upwards as late registrations are processed.
Two longer markers. At the program's tenth anniversary in 2021, IISA reported it had supported well over 30,000 companies in its lifetime, with two to three thousand registering for the first time each year. And in 2023-24, software development and product R&D rose to half of all registered activities, up from 46 per cent the year before.
The ATO publishes company level claim data two years after each income year. The latest report, published on 25 September 2025, covers 2022-23. These figures differ from the registration figures above because registration comes first and uses an estimate.
| Measure | 2021-22 | 2022-23 |
|---|---|---|
| Companies that claimed | 11,545 | 12,956 |
| Total R&D expenditure claimed | $11.2 billion | $16.2 billion |
| By public and multinational businesses | $4.9 billion | $8.7 billion |
| By privately owned and wealthy groups | $4.1 billion | $5.0 billion |
| By small businesses | $2.2 billion | $2.4 billion |
| Australian-owned share of claimants | 97.8% | 93% |
Source: ATO R&D tax incentive transparency reports 2021-22 and 2022-23. The 2021-22 report left out around 850 companies with substituted accounting periods, which is part of why the jump between the two years looks so large.
| 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. Derived from the same report, the average claim across all 12,956 companies is roughly $1.25 million. The ATO does not publish a median.
Treasury's 2025-26 Tax Expenditures and Insights Statement, published December 2025, reports the two components of the program separately.
For companies under $20 million of aggregated turnover. In 2022-23, 10,882 companies claimed it and total government payments were $4.0 billion. Companies turning over between $2 million and $20 million were 29 per cent of recipients and used half the total.
For companies at $20 million or more. In 2022-23, 1,034 companies used $2.2 billion of offsets, with revenue forgone of $800 million against an ordinary deduction. 80 per cent of it went to companies turning over more than $100 million.
Added together, and this is derived from the same Treasury source, the program delivered roughly $6.2 billion in total offsets in 2022-23. For context, IISA's 2021-22 report put the net annual cost to government at around $2.7 billion in revenue forgone and refunds, and its 2023-24 report called it a flagship $3 billion program. The fiscal cost has grown steadily, which is one of the reasons the 2026-27 Budget reforms exist.
R&D expenditure claimed by industry in 2022-23, on ANZSIC divisions, the top six of twenty.
| Industry | Claimed 2022-23 | Claimants |
|---|---|---|
| Professional, scientific and technical services | $6.19 billion | 5,663, or 44% of claims |
| Manufacturing | $3.57 billion | 2,638 |
| Mining | $1.48 billion | Not in the top five 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 |
Treasury adds a different lens. Use of the non-refundable offset, meaning the larger companies, is most concentrated in manufacturing at 27 per cent of offsets used, mining at 21 and professional, scientific and technical services at 20.
| 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 |
Source: ATO R&D tax incentive transparency report 2022-23.
On 12 May 2026 the government announced a redesign of the program, as the first stage of its response to the Ambitious Australia strategic examination of research and development. The changes take effect from 1 July 2028 and apply to all R&D entities.
| Change | Now | From 1 July 2028 |
|---|---|---|
| Core R&D offset rates | 8.5 to 18.5 points above the company tax rate | Up by 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 ten 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. For what the changes mean if you claim, see the R&D Tax Incentive advisory page.
AusIndustry and the ATO run it jointly. A joint random sample review of 2021-22 registrations and claims finished in 2024-25 and will shape future risk-based work.
More than 95 per cent of registration applications were processed inside target time frames in each of the last three reported cycles.
Advance finding assessment times fell from around 200 days to under 72. There were 215 advance and overseas findings sought in 2024-25.
The ATO has issued TA 2023/4 and TA 2023/5 on arrangements involving associated entities and overseas activities, and R&D offsets have been within the Part IVA general anti-avoidance rule since 1 July 2021.
Four new review applications were lodged with the AAT in 2023-24, and none went to a final hearing.
To keep this page honest, here is what is not in the official data anywhere, as at June 2026.
All figures were taken directly from the documents below on 12 June 2026. Where two official sources differ, both are shown and the difference explained rather than reconciled. This page is reviewed annually, and after a Budget.
Prime Partners advises Australian companies on the R&D Tax Incentive on a fixed fee. If you are working out whether a claim is worth making, start with the calculator and then talk to us.
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