Registration is the AusIndustry half of the R&D Tax Incentive. Under section 27A of the Industry Research and Development Act 1986 the Board registers a company for specified core and supporting activities for an income year, and section 355-205 of the tax Act allows notional deductions only for registered activities. No registration, no claim.
What the application covers
- Each core activity, with the technical uncertainty and each step of the systematic progression of work. Core activities share an entry only if they address the same uncertainty.
- Each supporting activity, normally described separately and linked to the core activity it supports.
- Any overseas activity, which also needs an overseas finding.
- Declarations that the information is correct and that records were kept as the work was done.
Deadline, extensions and changes
The window opens when the income year ends and closes 10 months later. AusIndustry says it will approve an extension of 14 days or less requested before the deadline, if the request explains why the time is needed and why 14 days is enough. Longer or later requests are judged case by case, are not granted automatically, and cannot run past 92 days after the deadline unless a related decision is pending.
Changes go through a variation request. Before the deadline any change can be requested, but adding or significantly changing an activity must also be approved before the deadline, so AusIndustry suggests asking at least a week ahead. After it, activities can only be removed, re-dated without lengthening, reclassified, or given minor amendments. Dates for each year are on the FY2026 deadline page and registration extensions.
After registration
AusIndustry issues a registration number, which the company's accountant enters on the R&D schedule with the tax return. Rand prepares the registration from the team's GitHub, Jira, Linear and Notion records and Xero payroll, an Expert Reviewer finalises it, and the company declares and submits it. The registration field checker checks a drafted answer against the form's character limits and flags wording that reads as routine work; it does not assess eligibility.
Our guides to the registration form fields and the customer portal walk through the form itself.