The R&D Tax incentive helps a wide range of businesses to undertake more R&D and explore the opportunities to create new innovations in their sector.
The main features of the incentive include:
- A credit rate of 15%
- $120 million expenditure cap
- A minimum R&D spend of 50k per year (or less with an approved research provider)
Eligibility criteria
You’re eligible to apply for the tax credit if you:
- Perform a core R&D activity in New Zealand yourself or through an R&D contractor in New Zealand, and
- Conduct business through a fixed establishment in New Zealand.
- The RDTI is intended to reward businesses investing in R&D, so it excludes R&D contractors whose business is doing R&D for others. Find more information on page 29 of Inland Revenue's detailed RDTI guide.
You must also:
- own the results of your R&D, or
- another company in your corporate group must own the results of the R&D and must also be tax resident of New Zealand or a jurisdiction with which New Zealand has a double tax agreement, or
- your joint venture or partnership (if you are in one) must own the results of the R&D.
Partnerships, look-through companies and joint ventures are eligible for the incentive if they meet certain conditions
You cannot claim the RDTI if you:
-
receive – or are directly or indirectly controlled by, or associated with – a person receiving a Callaghan Innovation Growth Grant for the same income year;
-
are a Crown Research Institute, district health board or tertiary education organisation, an associate of one of these organisations, or are majority-owned or effectively controlled by one of these organisations or their associates;
-
are performing the R&D activity on behalf of another person who carries on a business through a fixed establishment in New Zealand, and/or;
-
are a member of a joint venture, a partner in a partnership, or an owner of a look-through company, and not a New Zealand tax resident for the whole tax year.
For more information, please contact:
