Headmaster, R&D Tax Academy
Adam Rogers
Headmaster of R&D Tax Academy and a Principal at Swanson Reed. A mechanical engineer and former university academic who has worked exclusively in R&D tax credits since 2005.
- 20+
- years in R&D tax credits
- 7
- countries published in
- 15
- publications and whitepapers
Background
Adam Rogers' background is as a mechanical engineer and university academic in fluid mechanics and thermodynamics. He is also a registered tax agent and has worked exclusively in the R&D tax credit space since 2005. He is extensively published across seven countries, focusing on the intersection of technical engineering, innovation policy, and tax law.
He is Chairperson of the Patent Grants Think Tank, which advocates to governments around the world for the adoption of entitlement-based patent grant programs, and Chairperson of the Research Credit Integrity Alliance. As Headmaster of R&D Tax Academy, he leads a global online training platform that educates R&D tax professionals, accountants, and companies on the R&D tax credit in the USA, the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.
Global technical compliance and AI leadership
Adam Rogers is the lead technical compliance leader for global R&D tax advisory firm Swanson Reed, overseeing technical compliance across the firm's international operations. He also leads the implementation and deployment of AI agents across Swanson Reed's TaxTrex and creditARMOR divisions, helping integrate AI-driven workflows into R&D tax substantiation, compliance, and risk management.
Adam is also heavily involved in integrating the Grant Ninja and AusGrant grant consulting advisory businesses into the Swanson Reed group. He routinely speaks on innovation policy at workshops and conferences across the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and Australia. Major R&D tax credit clients he has worked with include Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, Rio Tinto Limited, and Caterpillar.
Leadership and advisory roles
Headmaster
R&D Tax Academy
An R&D tax credit training and education platform for R&D tax credit professionals across the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, set up during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chairperson
Research Credit Integrity Alliance
An alliance that lobbies Congress on R&D tax credit integrity issues such as fee transparency for R&D tax credit professionals.
Chairperson
Patent Grants Think Tank
Advocates to governments around the world for the adoption of entitlement-based patent grant programs designed to support innovation and patent participation.
Peer-reviewed journals and industry publications
9 articles- December 2025Ireland
Developing a Substantiation Strategy for the Irish R&D Tax Credit
innovation.CAFE Academic Journals
Develops a structured approach to substantiating Irish R&D tax credit claims and extends the research programme on contemporaneous documentation to Ireland.
- January 2025Singapore
Practical Documentation for Substantiating R&D Tax Claims in Singapore
innovation.CAFE Academic Journals
Examines practical approaches to documenting and substantiating qualifying R&D activities in Singapore, with a focus on contemporaneous technical evidence.
- July 2024New Zealand
Practical Documentation Strategies for Substantiating Research & Development Tax Incentive (RDTI) Claims in New Zealand
innovation.CAFE Academic Journals
Examines practical documentation strategies for substantiating New Zealand RDTI claims, extending Rogers' research on contemporaneous R&D evidence and technical substantiation to the New Zealand regime.
- March 2022United Kingdom
It's All in the Papers: Documentation Required for Research and Development Tax Relief
Taxation (United Kingdom)
A technical overview of HMRC requirements for substantiating R&D claims in the UK, focusing on the competent professional standard.
- January 2019Canada
Practical Documentation of Qualifying Research Activities for the SR&ED Tax Credit
Journal of Accounting and Taxation (Vol. 11, No. 1)
This paper examines the Canadian SR&ED program, specifically analyzing how businesses must navigate the "Five Question Test" through contemporaneous documentation to prove that software and engineering activities go beyond routine procedures.
- November 2016United States
Should the United States Enact a Patent Box?
The Tax Adviser (AICPA)
An analysis of the "patent box" tax regime, evaluating the potential economic benefits and challenges of taxing intellectual property income at a preferential rate within the U.S. tax system.
- September 2016Australia
Development of an Early On-Set Innovation Culture in Australia
Small Enterprise Research Journal
Reviews the literature on entrepreneurship education in primary and secondary schools and sets out a framework for further study of its effect on innovative thinking and entrepreneurship.
- July 2016United States
Practical Documentation of QRAs for the R&D Tax Credit
The Tax Adviser (AICPA)
A definitive guide on documenting Qualified Research Activities (QRAs) for U.S. claimants. It provides a framework for satisfying the IRS "four-part test" under IRC Section 41 to ensure audit readiness.
- March 2013Australia
Substantiating an Experiment: The R&D Tax Conundrum
Taxation in Australia
An analysis of the evidentiary requirements for proving the "progression of work" in experimental activities under Australian tax law.
Whitepapers and think tank research
6 papers- 2023
The inventionINDEX: Early Warning System Whitepaper
Lead Researcher, Swanson Reed Think Tank
Introduces the concept of an early warning system in the form of a traffic-light alert mechanism detecting early signs of regional stagnation to trigger policy intervention.
- 2022United States
Patent Grants Program and the Innovation Pipeline
Technical Publication, Swanson Reed Think Tank
Explores the strategic necessity of patent funding initiatives as a mechanism to artificially stimulate the "elasticity" of the U.S. innovation engine. Rogers examines how targeted, non-dilutive capital can rehabilitate the patenting pipeline in jurisdictions triggering negative sentiment alerts.
- 2021
The inventionINDEX: Theory Whitepaper, Measuring Innovation Elasticity
Lead Researcher, Swanson Reed Think Tank
This comprehensive report introduces the inventionINDEX, a metric that evaluates innovation health by analyzing the ratio of GDP growth to patent production growth. Rogers argues that a 20-year baseline is essential to align with statutory patent lifecycles and identifies a concerning "consolidation phase" in post-pandemic innovation.
- 2021
The inventionINDEX: Practical Applications Whitepaper
Lead Researcher, Swanson Reed Think Tank
Introduces the traffic light warning system. Rogers argues that for states where the inventionINDEX warning system is triggered, structural patent production deficiencies can be reversed through immediate execution of the Patent Grant Program.
- 2016Australia
Collaborative Patent Grants: Boosting University Collaboration
Wrays & Swanson Reed Group (WSR Group)
A concept paper proposing a Collaborative Patent Grant program to increase Australian patent production and strengthen university-industry collaboration. It proposes grant support of up to $50,000 per international patent family and requires participating patent applications to include an Australian university academic as a contributing inventor.
- October 2015Australia
Innovation in Australia: Building a Prosperous Future Through Innovation
innovationCAFE / Swanson Reed & Wrays
A national innovation policy discussion paper reporting findings from the 2015 innovationCAFE workshop series hosted by Swanson Reed and Wrays. It examines the views of Australian industry leaders on the conditions needed to strengthen innovation, collaboration and commercialisation and to build a more prosperous innovation-led economy.
International technical compliance
Adam Rogers oversees R&D tax strategies and has published technical guidance for the following countries:
- Practical Documentation of QRAs for the R&D Tax Credit
- United KingdomHMRCIt's All in the Papers
- IrelandRevenueDeveloping a Substantiation Strategy for the Irish R&D Tax Credit
- CanadaCRAPractical Documentation of Qualifying Research Activities for the SR&ED Tax Credit
- AustraliaATOSubstantiating an Experiment: The R&D Tax Conundrum
- New ZealandInland RevenuePractical Documentation Strategies for Substantiating RDTI Claims in New Zealand
- SingaporeIRASPractical Documentation for Substantiating R&D Tax Claims in Singapore