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If your Australian company invests in developing new products, solving technical challenges, or improving existing processes, you may be eligible for the R&D Tax Incentive — a government program offering significant tax offsets or cash refunds from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Below are practical R&D tax incentive example to help you understand what kinds of activities could be eligible.
Many companies miss out on this benefit simply because they don’t realise their work qualifies as R&D. These examples show how eligible innovation projects often look in the real world — whether you’re in software, engineering, product design, or renewable tech.
An R&D tax incentive example refers to business activities that:
These examples help you identify whether your project fits the Australian R&D Tax Incentive program, which rewards eligible R&D with a refundable tax offset or cash refund from the ATO.
Design, Developing and Testing New Concept Software or Hardware.
One of the most common types of R&D tax incentive example is in software and tech development. If your team is designing and testing new software features, new game engines, or innovative tools that solve technical problems not readily solvable with current technology, this can qualify for the incentive.
Example:
A gaming software company creates a new graphics engine to deliver high performance across devices. The work involves experimentation to solve performance issues and testing iterations before deployment.
Why this qualifies: You’re addressing an unknown outcome with a systematic development process — core criteria for R&D eligibility.
Another strong R&D tax incentive example is developing new physical products or improving existing ones in ways that require scientific or technical innovation.
Example:
A manufacturing business develops biodegradable plastic bags that maintain strength but break down faster than traditional plastics, requiring repeated testing and material reformulations.
Why this qualifies: Activities that involve testing new materials and processes to solve technical challenges are classic R&D.
Why this qualifies: The project includes hypothesis formulation, experiments, and analysis — key parts of R&D.
Using clear R&D tax incentive examples helps you:
The Australian Government expects R&D activities to show:
At R&D Assist we specialise in helping businesses identify and document eligible R&D projects. Whether you want more tailored R&D tax incentive examples or support for your claim, we’re here to guide you step by step.
Contact us for a free consultation — we’ll help you determine if your R&D activities qualify under the Australian R&D Tax Incentive program and maximise your refund.
If you are unsure if your potential R&D activity qualifies, drop us a line and we’ll let you know for sure!
We specialise in R&D claims and assisting clients with an annual turnover below $20 million every step of the way to optimise their R&D process from:
R&D claim preparation, compliance and lodgement; and /or
Tax Return preparation, compliance and lodgement
We charge on a no win no fee basis.