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Findings

Findings are made by the Department of Industry, Science and Resources (the department) as a result of an examination of the R&D activities in your application. Examinations can be initiated by us or requested by you.

We may initiate an examination before your activities have been registered (pre-registration examination) or after they have been registered (post-registration examination).

If a finding is made that your activities are core or supporting R&D activities, this means those activities are eligible for the program. If a finding is made that your activities are not core or supporting R&D activities, those activities are ineligible for the program.

Findings are legally binding so you cannot claim a tax offset for ineligible activities. If you have already claimed the R&D tax offset on ineligible activities with the Australian Taxation Office, you must amend your tax return.

Pre-registration examination

The department may examine the activities in your application before those activities are registered. If we find that your activities are ineligible, we will refuse to register the activities for the R&DTI. This means you cannot claim the R&D tax offset on those activities in your income tax return.

Post-registration examination

If we find that your activities are ineligible after registration, we will notify you and the Commissioner of Taxation. The finding may include activities from the current and previous income years.

Examinations process

If your application is selected for examination, we will:

  • notify you and explain the process involved
  • provide you with a ‘Statement of Issues’ outlining our concerns
  • give you an opportunity to provide evidence and additional information to support your claims (within 30 days – extensions may apply)
  • notify you of the outcome of the examination
  • engage with you throughout the process, from start to finish.

Advance and overseas findings

You can request an eligibility finding on your Australian R&D activities before registering for the R&DTI. We call this an advance finding. Learn more about advance findings.

If you plan to conduct overseas R&D activities, you must have a positive overseas finding in place to claim the tax offset. Learn more about overseas findings.

What to do if you disagree with a finding

Internal reviews

If you disagree with a finding about your activities, we recommend that you first speak to your case manager. If you still disagree with the finding, you have the right to apply for an internal review of the decision.

You must make requests for internal review within 28 days after we have notified you of the finding. You can ask for an extension of time.

Requests for extensions are dealt with under Part 3 of the Industry Research and Development Decision-making Principles 2022.

To apply for an internal review you need to complete an internal review application form. You cannot apply for an internal review through the customer portal.

Internal review application form

pdf · 0.41 MB docx · 0.15 MB

In the form, you should:

  • tell us which aspects of the original decision you disagree with
  • provide any additional information you would like us to consider.

Email the completed form to: RDTI-InternalReviewRequests@industry.gov.au.

When we conduct the internal review, we will consider:

  • the evidence used for the original examination
  • any new information you provide.

The internal review will assess all available information as if considering it for the first time. The review will confirm, vary or set aside the original finding.

You will be able to review and comment on our draft internal review examination report. This is to ensure a fair and transparent process. It is open to the decision-maker to make a final decision that differs or is the same as that set out in the draft report. We will then notify you of the final decision.

External review of decision

If you disagree with an internal review decision, you can apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) for a review.

The ART provides independent reviews of decisions made by the Australian Government.