This track is for founders and early finance hires of an Irish company that is loss-making or pre-revenue and is deciding whether, when and how to claim the R&D tax credit. Under section 766C the credit is paid in three instalments irrespective of the company's corporation tax liability, so a loss-making startup is asking how much arrives in each of three years, not whether it will ever see the benefit. The gate is the pre-filing notification, at least 90 days before the claim, and the window is short: 12 months from the end of the accounting period. The credit is administered by the Revenue Commissioners.
How the Ireland rules change the program
| Module | What is different in Ireland | Country page |
|---|---|---|
| Is it worth claiming | Rate: 30% of qualifying expenditure for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2024; 35% where the corporation tax return filing date is on or after 23 September 2027. Paid in three annual instalments, as an offset against tax or a repayment, the company electing for each. The first is the greater of 50% of the claim or a fixed threshold: €75,000 for periods commencing on or after 1 January 2025 that end before 31 December 2026; €87,500 where the 35% rate applies. | Payable credit instalments |
| Setting up from day one | Keep records made at the time that show the scientific or technological uncertainty, the work carried out to resolve it and the expenditure incurred. Revenue expects contemporaneous documentation for the science test and for the accounting test, including timesheets or equivalent records, invoices and a reconciliation of the claim to the accounts. | Documentation |
| Funding interactions | Expenditure met directly or indirectly by grant assistance or any other assistance from the State, an EU institution or any other state is not qualifying expenditure. Subcontracting is capped at the greater of 15 percent of the company's own qualifying expenditure and €100,000 for an unconnected person. | Eligible expenditure |
| Your first claim | Companies claiming for the first time, or that have not claimed in the previous 3 years, must notify Revenue in advance, at least 90 days before the claim, using a prescribed form. The claim is made in the research and development panel of the Form CT1 within 12 months of the end of the accounting period in which the expenditure was incurred. | How to claim |
Forms and deadlines
| Form or step | Deadline or timing | Country page |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-filing notification | At least 90 days before the claim, where the company has not made a claim under section 766C or section 766 in any of the 3 accounting periods immediately preceding the period for which the claim is made. Made on the prescribed form through Revenue Online Service. A claim made without the required pre-filing notification is not a valid claim. | How to claim |
| Form CT1, research and development panel | Due by the 23rd day of the ninth month after the end of the accounting period where filed electronically. Records qualifying expenditure, the credit claimed and the treatment of each instalment. | How to claim |
| The R&D credit claim | Within 12 months of the end of the accounting period in which the expenditure was incurred. | Deadlines |
Key rules to know
The instalment arithmetic. The first instalment is the greater of €75,000 (€87,500 where the 35 percent rate applies) and 50 percent of the credit, or the full credit where it is less than the threshold. The second is three fifths of the credit remaining after the first, and the third is the balance.
The notification and the window together. Because the claim must be made within 12 months of the period end and the notice at least 90 days before the claim, a first-time claimant that leaves the credit until the return is prepared can find the notice can no longer be given in time. Diarise it for the month the accounting period ends.
What the science test asks. Qualifying R&D activities are systematic, investigative or experimental activities in a field of science or technology. They must be basic research, applied research or experimental development, must seek to achieve scientific or technological advancement, and must involve the resolution of scientific or technological uncertainty. Revenue's guidance states that business application software, routine computer maintenance and software development using known methods and tools do not qualify unless the work resolves a scientific or technological uncertainty.
What comes out of the cost base. General overheads such as rent, rates, insurance and administration are excluded, while costs directly consumed in the R&D such as power and laboratory supplies may be apportioned. Time spent on general management, administration and non-R&D supervision is not qualifying expenditure, so a founder who codes half the week needs a timesheet from the first month.
Worked example
Illustrative example. Corrib Sensors Limited, a hypothetical company with an accounting period from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, is pre-revenue and has never claimed. It incurred €640,000 of staff and materials costs on an experimental development project in engineering, of which €100,000 was met by a State grant, and paid €60,000 to an unconnected Irish contractor.
| Step | Figures | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Funding interactions | €640,000 less the €100,000 met by grant assistance = €540,000 own expenditure. Subcontract cap is the greater of 15 percent of €540,000 (€81,000) and €100,000, so the €60,000 qualifies in full after notifying the contractor in writing | Qualifying expenditure €600,000 |
| Is it worth claiming | 30% of €600,000 | Credit €180,000, payable irrespective of corporation tax liability |
| First instalment | Greater of 50% of €180,000 (€90,000) and €75,000 | €90,000, repayment elected |
| Second and third instalments | Three fifths of the €90,000 remaining = €54,000; balance €36,000 | Claimed in the 2026 and 2027 returns |
| Setting up from day one | First claim, so a pre-filing notification at least 90 days before the claim | Submitted through Revenue Online Service by 23 June 2026 |
| Your first claim | Form CT1 filed by 23 September 2026 with repayment elected; the claim can be amended until 31 December 2026 | €90,000 repaid after the return is processed |
Had the finance lead first thought about the credit in October 2026, 90 days would have run past the 31 December 2026 deadline and the year's credit would have been lost.
Related country guide pages
Self-check questions
Answer each question, then open it to compare.
A pre-revenue company has no corporation tax to pay. Does that reduce its R&D tax credit, and how does it receive the money?
The credit for the year is €120,000. How much is the first instalment and how much follows in each of the next two years?
A startup with a 31 December 2025 year end has never claimed and plans to file its Form CT1 on 23 September 2026. By when must the pre-filing notification go in, and what happens without it?
The company received a State grant that paid for part of its development salaries. How does that affect the qualifying expenditure?
How much of a payment to an unconnected development contractor can a startup include, and what must it tell the contractor?
Official sources
Register interest in Startups and Scale-ups
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Educational content only, not tax advice. See the disclaimer.