Innovation requires risk. It demands time, capital, and the willingness to push beyond what’s already known.
The R&D Tax Incentive (RDTI) exists to reward exactly that – offering eligible New Zealand businesses a tax credit for the R&D work they’re already undertaking. In many cases, that credit is paid out in cash. That can mean significant cash injection into the business – funding that can be reinvested into hiring, equipment, product development, or extending runway.
It’s a powerful opportunity. Yet each year, many eligible businesses miss out – either assuming they don’t qualify, or leaving it too late to act.
The first deadline for making an RDTI claim for the 2026 financial year is approaching. Don’t leave it to the eleventh hour – now’s the time to start preparing.
What Is the R&D Tax Incentive (RDTI)?
The R&D Tax Incentive (RDTI) is a government programme designed to support New Zealand businesses investing in innovation. It provides a tax credit for eligible research and development expenditure.
At its core, eligibility comes down to one key question:
Are you trying to resolve scientific or technological uncertainty?
And here’s where many businesses get it wrong.
R&D isn’t limited to inventing something the world has never seen before. It’s not just breakthrough, headline-grabbing innovation. Under the RDTI, R&D also includes improving existing products, refining processes, developing new capabilities, or solving technical problems where the answer isn’t obvious from the outset.
If you’re working through technical challenges, testing different approaches, building prototypes, running trials, or pushing beyond what your team (or industry) already knows how to do – that’s R&D.
It’s the hard stuff. Not your day-to-day operations, but the work where you’re pushing into the unknown.
It’s the kind of work where success isn’t guaranteed – and that’s exactly why it qualifies.
Eligible projects typically involve:
- Creating a new product, process, or service
- Improving or optimising an existing product, process, or service
- Developing new knowledge, capability, or technical solutions
- Systematically testing and experimenting to overcome technical uncertainty
If you’re investing time and money into solving complex technical problems – even within an existing product line – there’s a good chance you’re doing R&D.
The Financial Opportunity
Once you’ve identified eligible R&D activities happening in your business, you can claim the operational costs directly linked to – and supporting – that work.
This typically includes:
- Employee salaries and wages
- Contractor costs
- Materials and consumables
- A portion of overheads
- Certain overseas expenditure
After these costs have been identified and appropriately apportioned, the RDTI provides a 15% tax credit on eligible expenditure.
For example, if your business has $1 million of eligible R&D expenditure, that results in a $150,000 tax credit – often paid in cash.
For many businesses, that level of return can have a meaningful impact on the bottom line. It can ease cash flow pressure, strengthen profitability, and provide additional capital to reinvest back into the business.
The Deadline – What You Need to Know
To make an RDTI claim, the first key step is submitting your General Approval application. This is where you outline the R&D activities undertaken during the financial year and demonstrate how they meet the eligibility criteria.
For businesses with a standard 31 March balance date, the deadline to submit General Approval for the 2026 financial year is 30 June 2026.
For businesses with a different balance date, the deadline falls three months after your financial year end.
While 30 June might seem like some time away, preparing a strong General Approval application takes planning. Identifying eligible activities, documenting technical uncertainty, and ensuring you capture the full breadth of R&D happening within your business isn’t something that can be done well at the last minute.
This is not your income tax return deadline – it is a separate filing requirement. And if you miss it, you lose the opportunity to claim the RDTI for that year.
If you’re considering making a claim, the time to start preparing is now.
How Swell Can Support Your RDTI Claim
The RDTI is a significant opportunity for innovative Kiwi businesses. But turning that opportunity into a successful claim takes time, technical depth, and a clear understanding of what MBIE and Inland Revenue expect to see.
That’s why Swell exists.
We know the RDTI can deliver meaningful cash back into growing businesses – but most teams don’t have the time or specialist expertise to manage the process properly while focusing on running and scaling their operations.
Swell manages the entire claim process end-to-end. We start by working closely with your technical teams to identify eligible R&D activity and clearly demonstrate the scientific or technological uncertainty being addressed. Getting this right is critical – it forms the foundation of a strong claim.
From there, we quantify and apportion the expenditure directly supporting that activity, ensuring all eligible costs are captured accurately.
Our team blends financial, technical, and commercial expertise. That means we can dive deep into your projects, ask the right questions, and translate complex innovation work into documentation that meets the expectations of both MBIE and Inland Revenue.
The result is a claim that is not only compliant – but complete. And a process that minimises disruption to your team while maximising the opportunity available.
Ready to Make Your FY26 RDTI Claim?
If you’re considering making an RDTI claim for the 2026 financial year, now is the time to start the conversation.
Get in touch with our team to assess your eligibility, understand what’s involved, and ensure you’re well positioned ahead of the deadline.