Applying for the research grant
Applications may cover R&D spending incurred from January 1st, 2020 up to the end of the fiscal year concerned with eligible expenses.
Starting January 11th 2021, application for the FZulG may be done online at the Bescheinigungsstelle Forschungszulage (BSFZ) website. In order to do so, you will need an ELSTER certificate to properly identify and register on the platform. You must send your ELSTER application before your FZuIG application, this process may take up to two weeks.
The FZulG provides a two-stage procedure for granting the research allowance:
STEP 1:
- Application for certification: The certifying body examines the requirements and information presented, and issues a certificate to the applicant confirming the existence of a R&D project.
- The request for certification may be done before, during or after your project R&D is underway.
- You must request a different certificate for each of your R&D projects, or request one certificate for a group of projects under the same research subject.
STEP 2:
- Application for estimation of the research allowance: In a second step, the research allowance is sent to the tax office which is responsible for the taxation of the eligible person according to income. This application can only be submitted after the end of the fiscal year in which the eligible expenses for subsidized R&D projects were incurred.
- The request is sent to the BSFZ, then to the local government for approval.
- You may send in an application up to four years after conclusion of the R&D project.
