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Unclaimed
Discovery tool, not advice. Every figure is the published rule, not a decision on your case.
Tax credits

South African R&D Tax Incentive (section 11D)

Status

Status not published

Pre-approval is required: expenditure only qualifies from the date DSTI receives the application. The incentive was extended by legislation beyond its previous 2022 sunset date.

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Amount
Not published

150% deduction of qualifying R&D operating expenditure against taxable income, plus accelerated depreciation on R&D capital assets. There is no cash payment; the benefit depends on the company's tax position.

Funder

Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) / SARS

public · national

Deadline: Open all year — Pre-approval is required: expenditure only qualifies from the date DSTI receives the application. The incentive was extended by legislation beyond its previous 2022 sunset date.

Your odds
Not published

This funder does not publish a success rate. We rank it using the rate observed across similar programmes and label it as an estimate rather than implying we know.

Effort
major

Major bid — written case, budget, possibly partners.

Who can apply

South African taxpayers conducting scientific or technological R&D in South Africa. Excludes routine testing, market research, social science research and internal business process software in most cases.

How to apply

  1. Submit the pre-approval application to DSTI before starting the R&D (or before the expenditure you want to claim).
  2. DSTI adjudication committee approves the activities.
  3. Claim the 150% deduction in the corporate income tax return.
  4. Submit annual progress reports to DSTI.

What you will need

Related reading: How grant deadlines actually work · R&D tax credit vs. grant: the difference that changes your claim

Apply on the funder's site

Source. https://www.dst.gov.za/rdtax/ · not human-checked

Verified on 14 August 2026

Source: www.dst.gov.za

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Paid, separate from Unclaimed

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