Ignition Insights
Your First R&DTI Claim, Start to Finish: The Two-Step Annual Cycle for a First-Timer
A first R&DTI claim is two lodgments in a fixed order: register with AusIndustry, then claim at the ATO. Plain-English first-timer guide. Not tax advice.
Can a Founder Pay Themselves an R&D Salary? What Owner and Director Wages Mean for Your Claim
Founder and director wages can form part of an R&DTI claim — but associate timing, market-rate and paid-vs-accrued rules trip owners up. Here's the shape.
NCC Compliance Testing Cannot Be Core R&D — But It May Be Supporting, and Developing the System You Test May Be Core
Certification and standards testing cannot be core R&D, but may be a supporting activity. Developing the wall or façade you test may itself be core.
How Do You Run a Systematic Experiment When the Right Answer Is a Lawyer's Judgement?
Many legal-judgement tasks lack one uncontested answer. Build a measurable hypothesis, an adjudicated reference set and an honest agreement benchmark.
Microgrids, VPPs and Dispatch Algorithms: Where the R&D Actually Sits in an Energy Software Project
Microgrid and VPP software: how to define a bounded field trial that is separable from ordinary operation of the same batteries, sites and platform.
Electrifying Process Heat: When Is Decarbonisation Engineering R&D, and When Is It an Excluded Efficiency Survey?
Energy audits and efficiency surveys are excluded from the R&D Tax Incentive. Here is where process-heat electrification work may still be eligible R&D.
Can You Claim Your AWS and GPU Bill? Cloud Compute in an R&D Tax Incentive Claim
Cloud spend is claimable only to the extent incurred on registered R&D. A tagging and attribution method, a worked example, and the offshore question.
A Contract Manufacturer Makes Your Product — Can You Still Claim the R&D Tax Incentive?
A co-packer runs your trial batches. Whether you or the manufacturer may claim the R&D Tax Incentive turns on who the R&D was conducted for.
Core or Supporting? Which Parts of Your R&D Project Go in the Claim — and Under Which Test
Core and supporting R&D activities face different tests. A decision table, the dominant-purpose trigger, and what AusIndustry checks at registration.