Guide · Tax
R&D Tax Credit Ireland (2026)
Editorial Team · 16 April 2026 · 10 min read
Irish companies can claim a 30% tax credit on qualifying R&D expenditure — effectively getting 30 cents back for every euro spent on research and development. For a SaaS startup spending €100,000/year on developers, that's a €30,000 credit.
What qualifies as R&D?
Under Section 766 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, qualifying R&D must involve:
- Systematic, investigative, or experimental activities in science or technology
- Seeking to achieve scientific or technological advancement
- Resolving scientific or technological uncertainty — i.e., the solution is not readily deducible by a competent professional
For SaaS: building new algorithms, developing novel infrastructure, creating new data processing methods, or solving engineering problems that haven't been solved before typically qualifies. Routine coding, UI design, and bug fixes generally do NOT qualify.
How much can you claim?
- 30% tax credit on qualifying R&D expenditure (increased from 25% in Budget 2024)
- First €50,000 of expenditure: available as a cash refund even if the company has no tax liability (the "micro company" provision)
- Credit can be used to reduce corporation tax, refunded over 3 years, or used to reward key employees
What expenditure qualifies?
- Salaries of employees directly engaged in R&D
- Materials and consumables used in R&D
- Heat, light, power used in R&D activities
- Payments to universities or approved research bodies
- Plant and machinery used for R&D
How to apply
- 1. Identify qualifying R&D projects and track expenditure separately
- 2. Prepare a technical report describing each project's scientific/technological uncertainty
- 3. File the claim via your corporation tax return (CT1) through ROS
- 4. Keep records for 6 years (Revenue can audit)
Revenue audit tips
- Keep contemporaneous records — don't reconstruct after the fact
- Technical report should show uncertainty at the START of the project
- Time sheets linking staff hours to specific R&D projects
- Clear separation of R&D costs from routine development
Common mistakes
- Claiming routine software development as R&D
- Not maintaining proper technical documentation
- Mixing R&D and non-R&D costs without clear allocation
- Not claiming because "we're too small" — the micro company provision exists for this
General information, not tax advice. Consult your accountant for R&D credit claims. Last updated 16 April 2026.