R&D Tax Incentive — claim year
Provides New Zealand businesses with policy support for innovation investments.
New Zealand's R&D Tax Incentive (RDTI) gives businesses a 15% tax credit on eligible R&D expenditure incurred in New Zealand, applied against each company's own financial year. The incentive is sector-agnostic — any New Zealand business conducting qualifying R&D activities across technology, manufacturing, life sciences, software, or any other field can claim it. For businesses with a March financial year-end, the deadline to submit a Supplementary Returns application and receive approval of Core R&D activities for the 2025/2026 income year is 30 June 2026; other businesses follow their own balance date under the standard NZ fiscal calendar.
The RDTI is jointly administered by Inland Revenue (Te Tari Taake) and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). Following Callaghan Innovation's disestablishment on 1 December 2025, MBIE's Innovation Services team assumed the support and advisory functions that Callaghan previously provided for RDTI claimants. The government offers free tailored support for applicants, an AI-assisted guidance document, a business eligibility quiz, an R&D project eligibility quiz, and a credit estimator at rdti.govt.nz. Contact for support is rdtihelp@mbie.govt.nz. The credit value scales directly with each claimant's own R&D spend — there is no fixed award amount or competitive pool.
For-profit companies, nonprofits, universities, and research organizations registered and operating in New Zealand are eligible, provided the R&D activities meet the statutory definition of eligible R&D and the expenditure is incurred in New Zealand. Businesses new to the RDTI should use the eligibility quiz before preparing their claim and should engage MBIE support early, especially if uncertain whether specific activities qualify as Core R&D. Given the 30 June 2026 deadline for March balance-date filers, organizations still assessing eligibility for FY2026 have a narrow remaining window.
Provides New Zealand businesses a 15% tax credit on eligible R&D expenditure across any sector, administered jointly by MBIE and Inland Revenue.
Sign up free to see the funding breakdown
Sign up free to see the industries in scope
Sign up free to see the full eligibility
Sign up free to see how to apply
Sign up free to see the timeline