The Australian R&D Tax Incentive
If you're building custom software, eligible Australian companies may be able to claim an R&D tax offset for qualifying development work. The programme rewards genuine technical experimentation, not routine development.
Tax rate + 18.5%
refundable
offset basis
For eligible companies with aggregated turnover under $20 million, the refundable R&D tax offset is based on the company tax rate plus an 18.5% premium, provided the software work involved genuine technical uncertainty.
Larger entities may receive a nonrefundable offset based on their R&D intensity. AusIndustry assesses the R&D activities and the ATO administers the tax offset, so you still need specialist advice to confirm eligibility.
Signs your work may qualify
Does your project fit?
Building something that did not exist before
Technical outcome was not certain upfront
You had to test and iterate to get there
Custom software work, not off the shelf configuration
What doesn't count
Routine work is usually excluded
Bug fixes and routine maintenance
Standard QA or regression checking
Routine integration configuration
UI only cosmetic changes
How Phynix projects typically qualify
The projects we work on can qualify when genuine uncertainty is present
The projects we are often brought in for are not template rollouts. They involve new workflows, new data handling, new automation paths, or AI assisted systems that need experimentation before the right operating model becomes clear.
That often means technical uncertainty is real: how to model the workflow, how to orchestrate the integration, how to make the interface reliable for operators, or how to make the automation robust enough for production.
Typical examples: custom workflow engines, operational dashboards with novel logic, AI assisted tooling with evaluation loops, and systems that replace fragmented admin with one coherent process layer.
What you'd need to claim
Good documentation beats reconstruction later
- 1
Registration
AusIndustry registration within 10 months of the end of the financial year
- 2
Time records
Who worked on what, and when
- 3
Technical trail
Commit history, technical notes, and iteration logs
- 4
Experiment evidence
Test results, decisions, and proof of genuine uncertainty
Our delivery process already creates the evidence trail
We document scope, decisions, iteration paths, commits, and testing as part of building serious software. That makes it easier for a specialist consultant to assess and support a claim without reverse engineering the project after the fact.
We can connect you with a specialist R&D tax consultant. Our project documentation is built to support your claim.
Building something technically uncertain?
Bring us the workflow problem, the technical unknowns, and the commercial constraint. We can scope the project, identify where grant eligibility may exist, and connect you with a specialist R&D tax consultant.