Apply for an advance finding from the R&D Tax Incentive

An advance finding is a legally binding decision made by the Department of Industry, Science and Resources (the department) on the eligibility of your R&D activities before you apply to register those activities for the R&DTI.

Advance findings are optional. You do not need to have an advance finding to apply for the R&DTI or claim the R&D tax offset. However, a positive advance finding can provide assurance of the eligibility of your R&D activities for up to 3 years.

Expenditure claims are not covered in advance findings.

In order for the department to make an advance finding, the activities in your application must meet the R&DTI’s requirements for being either a core R&D activity or a supporting R&D activity.

The activities must also be:

• conducted or completed during the income year in which the application is made; or
• expected to be conducted in the income year in which the application is made; or
• expected to be conducted in either of the next 2 income years after the application is made.

When you apply for an advance finding, the department will assess the information you provide. There are 3 possible findings we can make about an activity:

• the activity meets all conditions and is eligible
• part of the activity meets all conditions and only that part is eligible
• the activity fails to meet all conditions and is ineligible.

After assessing your activities, we will provide you with a notice that includes a finding certificate. This certificate contains a unique number and specifies which activities have been found to be eligible or ineligible. We are required to provide a copy of this notice to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

In some circumstances we may refuse to make a finding about an activity. In such cases your notice will explain why. Part 4 of the Industry Research and Development Decision-making Principles 2022 lists the circumstances for refusing to make a finding.

A positive advance finding is not a registration of your R&D activities.

If you receive a positive advance finding you must still apply to register your R&D activities for the R&DTI with the department.

If you receive a positive advance finding before you apply to register, you should include the certificate number in your application.

You also need to reference your positive advance finding when claiming the R&D tax offset with the ATO.

An advance finding applies to the activities as described in the finding certificate and lasts for up to 3 years – starting from the income year in which you apply.

However, if the activity has materially changed over time and no longer matches the description in the certificate, the advance finding is not valid. In such cases you must apply for a new advance finding.

If you have received a positive advance finding but have not completed the activity by the end of the third income year, you can apply for a new advance finding.

Applications for advance findings must be submitted using the advance and overseas findings application form available through the R&DTI customer portal.

You must submit your advance finding application before the end of the income year in which you conduct or plan to conduct your R&D activities. The department cannot accept late applications or grant extensions of time for advance findings under any circumstances.

We may ask for information and evidence about your activities as part of the advance finding process. It is important that you submit a complete application along with all supporting documents through the customer portal.

The department provides guidance to help you understand the application questions and what supporting material you can provide.

The average processing time for an advance finding is 90 days.

Processing times can vary for a range of reasons including:

• the time of year the application is received (we recommend lodging as early in your financial year as possible)
• whether the application has been submitted with all supporting documents
• how quickly we receive responses to requests for more information.