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Draft of Research Premium Guidelines
The Ministry of Finance has published new research premium guidelines that provide an overview of the substantive requirements.
For expenses on research and experimental development a research premium of 14% of the research expenses can be claimed. The Ministry of Finance has published new research premium guidelines as an assessment draft, which contain information regarding eligible claimants, assessment base and procedural law and give an overview of the substantive requirements.
Research premiums for calendar years from 2026
The statements of the Ministry of Finance (BMF) on the research premium have so far been found in the income tax guidelines. A standalone interpretative aid of around 150 pages has now been created, which includes a number of clarifications as well as tightenings. The new guidelines apply to research premiums that are applied for calendar years from 2026. For tax‑authority examinations concerning past periods and open cases the guidelines are to be applied, provided that the income tax guidelines do not provide more favourable rules. Apart from that, the Ministry of Finance's guidelines merely constitute an interpretative tool, from which no rights or obligations beyond the statutory provisions can be derived.
Examples from the content of the new research premium guidelines
Extension of the definition of qualifying research and experimental development (R&D)
For the classification of qualifying research and experimental development the “Frascati Handbook” is decisive. Qualifying is a planned and budgeted process whose outcome is initially uncertain and which meets the following five criteria: the activity must be novel, creative, uncertain, systematic and transferable and/or reproducible. The guidelines address the individual criteria in greater detail with reference to existing case law. For example, for the novelty criterion the research must go beyond the existing state of knowledge and technology, but no obvious knowledge gap is required.
Fictitious entrepreneur salary
Sole traders, co‑entrepreneurs and shareholders working without remuneration can, since 2022, claim a fictitious own remuneration as part of the qualifying costs. The guidelines contain, for the first time, more precise specifications: a maximum of 1,720 hours per person and fiscal year can be claimed. From 2024 the hourly rate is EUR 50, resulting in a maximum annual assessment base of EUR 86,000 per person. An exact time record with activity description is required for this. Moreover, the fictitious salary is only allowable to the extent that no salary or remuneration has already been paid.
Research cooperations, joint ventures
This constitutes a largely new chapter, which deals with special structures such as research cooperations, joint ventures or research activities within COMET competence centres, for which there have previously been only few administrative opinions. It now, for example, regulates which R&D effort is qualifying for the respective partners or that financing contributions to a COMET competence centre cannot generally be taken into account when assessing the research premium.
Research premiums for calendar years from 2026
The statements of the Ministry of Finance (BMF) on the research premium have so far been found in the income tax guidelines. A standalone interpretative aid of around 150 pages has now been created, which includes a number of clarifications as well as tightenings. The new guidelines apply to research premiums that are applied for calendar years from 2026. For tax‑authority examinations concerning past periods and open cases the guidelines are to be applied, provided that the income tax guidelines do not provide more favourable rules. Apart from that, the Ministry of Finance's guidelines merely constitute an interpretative tool, from which no rights or obligations beyond the statutory provisions can be derived.
Examples from the content of the new research premium guidelines
Extension of the definition of qualifying research and experimental development (R&D)
For the classification of qualifying research and experimental development the “Frascati Handbook” is decisive. Qualifying is a planned and budgeted process whose outcome is initially uncertain and which meets the following five criteria: the activity must be novel, creative, uncertain, systematic and transferable and/or reproducible. The guidelines address the individual criteria in greater detail with reference to existing case law. For example, for the novelty criterion the research must go beyond the existing state of knowledge and technology, but no obvious knowledge gap is required.
Fictitious entrepreneur salary
Sole traders, co‑entrepreneurs and shareholders working without remuneration can, since 2022, claim a fictitious own remuneration as part of the qualifying costs. The guidelines contain, for the first time, more precise specifications: a maximum of 1,720 hours per person and fiscal year can be claimed. From 2024 the hourly rate is EUR 50, resulting in a maximum annual assessment base of EUR 86,000 per person. An exact time record with activity description is required for this. Moreover, the fictitious salary is only allowable to the extent that no salary or remuneration has already been paid.
Research cooperations, joint ventures
This constitutes a largely new chapter, which deals with special structures such as research cooperations, joint ventures or research activities within COMET competence centres, for which there have previously been only few administrative opinions. It now, for example, regulates which R&D effort is qualifying for the respective partners or that financing contributions to a COMET competence centre cannot generally be taken into account when assessing the research premium.