South African R&D Tax Incentive (section 11D)
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.
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.
Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) / SARS
public · national
Deadline: rolling — 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.
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.
Major bid — written case, budget, possibly partners.
Who can apply
- Stage: seed, series_a, growth
- R&D activity required
- Locally registered entity required
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
- Submit the pre-approval application to DSTI before starting the R&D (or before the expenditure you want to claim).
- DSTI adjudication committee approves the activities.
- Claim the 150% deduction in the corporate income tax return.
- Submit annual progress reports to DSTI.
What you will need
- DSTI R&D tax incentive application form
- Technical description of the R&D activities
- Budget
- Company tax reference number
Source. https://www.dst.gov.za/rdtax/ — checked 2026-08-14 · not human-checked