What the ATO publishes about R&D Tax Incentive claimants

01What does the ATO publish about R&D claimants?

For every company that claims the R&D Tax Incentive for an income year starting on or after 1 July 2021, the ATO publishes its name, its ABN or ACN, and its total R&D expenditure for the income year. If the company amended its own claim, the amended figure is published too. Nothing else about the claim is released, and a company cannot opt out of publication.

The data report on data.gov.au has five labels (ATO — R&D tax incentive transparency reports):

For a consolidated or multiple entry consolidated group, the figure is the one disclosed by the head company. Amounts are generally rounded. A "Nil" amount can mean feedstock adjustments exceeded notional deductions, the company adjusted the amount in its return, or no total was provided.

02What is not in the published data?

The data shows R&D expenditure, not the tax offset received. The ATO does not publish the offset amount, whether it was refundable, the R&D activities, how the figures were calculated, or whether the company was entitled to the offset. It also leaves out any ATO compliance activity, past or current, and the information DISR holds on registrations.

The full list of exclusions is on the ATO's transparency reports page:

• the R&D activities conducted
• the calculations behind notional deductions and feedstock adjustments
• clawback amounts, other than feedstock adjustments
• the amount of tax offset received, and whether it was refundable or non-refundable
• the extent and nature of any ATO activity, including past or ongoing audits
• whether the entity was entitled to, or received, the offset
• information collected by DISR under the Industry Research and Development Act 1986.

Because the published figure is notional deductions, it is not the same as the value of the incentive. Turning spend into an estimate of benefit needs offset rates and assumptions about each company. Our analysis of where R&D Tax Incentive money goes used this data and sets out its assumptions.

03Why does the ATO publish it?

Section 3H of the Taxation Administration Act 1953 requires it. The section was inserted by the Treasury Laws Amendment (A Tax Plan for the COVID-19 Economic Recovery) Act 2020 and applies to income years starting on or after 1 July 2021. The ATO says the aim is transparency on the benefits R&D entities receive, voluntary compliance, and public awareness of who claims.

Sources: ATO — Section 3H, Taxation Administration Act 1953; legislation.gov.au — Treasury Laws Amendment (A Tax Plan for the COVID-19 Economic Recovery) Act 2020; ATO — R&D tax incentive transparency reports.

DISR describes the reports the same way, as a way to increase public accountability for R&D claimants and encourage voluntary compliance. It notes that the law still requires both agencies to keep most details of an entity's participation private. (business.gov.au — Assuring integrity in the R&D Tax Incentive)

04When is the data published?

Two years after the end of the financial year the data relates to. Section 3H requires publication as soon as practicable after the second 30 June following that financial year. The ATO says the delay is designed to address any perceived commercial sensitivity. The first report, for 2021–22, was published in October 2024, and reports have followed each September since.

Sources: ATO focus pages for the 2021–22, 2022–23 and 2023–24 reports.

Be careful comparing years. In the 2023–24 report the ATO notes that complete datasets now exist for 2022–23 and 2023–24, so those two years can be compared like for like. Each report also picks up late claims and amendments for earlier years: the 2023–24 report adds 342 companies that claimed for an earlier year after the previous cut-off. (ATO — R&D population overview 2023–24)

For a company with a 30 June year end, the 2024–25 income year ends on 30 June 2025, so under section 3H its data is due as soon as practicable after 30 June 2027.

05Where can you find the R&D claimant data?

The data report is on data.gov.au, and the ATO's analysis is on ato.gov.au. The Research and Development tax incentive dataset on data.gov.au has one Excel (.xlsx) file per report: 2021–22, 2022–23 and 2023–24. The files are released under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia licence.

Each year has two parts (ATO — R&D tax incentive transparency reports):

1. The data report on data.gov.au, a list of every claimant with the five labels above.
2. The analysis report on ato.gov.au, which breaks the population down by business size and industry. The 2023–24 analysis also includes a section on the ATO's R&DTI compliance approach.

In the 2023–24 analysis, small businesses (aggregated turnover under $10 million) made up 51% of claimants, or 6,920 companies. (ATO — R&D population overview 2023–24)

06How are amendments shown?

Amendments you lodge are published. Amendments the Commissioner makes are not. If a company amends its own claim, the report shows both the original and the latest amended figure, including voluntary disclosures made during a review or audit. If the Commissioner amends the claim, the ATO must publish the figure from the return as lodged before that amendment.

The rules, from the ATO's transparency reports page:

• A self-amendment that is not processed before the data is extracted appears in the next year's report.
• A claim withdrawn in full is shown with its original amount and an amended amount of Nil.
• The 2023–24 report publishes amended totals for 269 companies for that income year. (ATO — Focus of the R&DTI report 2023–24)

07What does the published data mean for claimants?

Your company's name and claimed R&D expenditure become public two years after each income year you claim. There are no exclusions and no opt-out. The ATO has added a notice about this to the R&DTI schedule for the 2024 and 2025 income years. You can correct an error before the data is extracted by lodging an amendment in writing.

Some practical points that follow from the ATO's rules:

• The figure is the one on your R&DTI schedule. It is total notional deductions less feedstock adjustments, so it depends on what was lodged, not on any later ATO view.
• Errors are corrected by amending. The ATO's process is to lodge an amendment in writing. If you think the published data contains an error, you can contact the ATO.
• Publication says nothing about review status. The data does not show whether a claim was reviewed, and Commissioner-initiated amendments are not published. A listed figure is not a sign that the ATO accepted the claim.

For how R&D claims are reviewed, and by whom, see how R&D Tax Incentive reviews and examinations work. For the underlying rules, see the plain-English guide to the R&D Tax Incentive, or ask a question. This article is general information, not tax advice.

This article describes a public dataset and the rules behind it. It draws no conclusion about any individual company's claim.

08Sources

• ATO — R&D tax incentive transparency reports
• ATO — R&D tax incentive transparency report 2023–24: Focus of the R&DTI report and R&D population overview
• ATO — Focus pages for the 2022–23 and 2021–22 reports
• ATO — Section 3H, Taxation Administration Act 1953
• legislation.gov.au — Treasury Laws Amendment (A Tax Plan for the COVID-19 Economic Recovery) Act 2020
• data.gov.au — Research and Development tax incentive dataset
• business.gov.au — Assuring integrity in the R&D Tax Incentive