Forschungszulage (R&D tax credit)
Up to €4.2M in funding per year.
In our view, Germany’s best funding program: predictable, without deadlines, independent of sector and size, and the only R&D funding available retroactively.
How high could your Forschungszulage be?
Which key figures apply to the Forschungszulage?
| Funding rate | up to 35% |
| Effective rate on internal R&D staff costs | up to 42% including the 20% overhead allowance, for projects starting from 2026 |
| Maximum assessment base | €12M per year, resulting in up to €4.2M allowance |
| Retroactive | Costs from 2022, the deadline for 2022 is 31 December 2026 |
| Application before project start | not required |
| Payment | Offset against tax, surplus refunded, including in loss years |
Updated: September 2026. Source: Official program page
What is funded?
Eligible: R&D staff, sole proprietor work at €100 per hour, EU and EEA contract research at 70% of the fee, and depreciation on assets used only in the project. Development with technical risk is required.
Eligible
- ✓Custom model architectures and training pipelines
- ✓New methods with technical risk
- ✓Systematic experiments with an open outcome
- ✓Custom hardware or material development
Not eligible
- ×Standard web development and CRUD
- ×Pure API calls to third-party models
- ×Prompt engineering
- ×Pure UI redesign
- ×Market research
- ×Ongoing operations
What we see in practice with the Forschungszulage
- ·The most common mistake is describing the product instead of the development. The technology is funded, not the use case.
- ·The distinction is decisive: What can existing methods do, and where does your approach go technically beyond them?
- ·No timesheets? Usually not a blocker. GrantOS derives the records via API from your existing systems.
- ·The BSFZ repeatedly asks about the same points. We know them and address them directly in the application.
How long does the process take?
It takes around six weeks from data collection to submission to the BSFZ. The BSFZ generally decides in around three months after submission.
- 01
Kick-off to submission
about 6 weeks
- 02
BSFZ decision
generally around 3 months
- 03
Tax office application
after the financial year
- 04
Assessment and payment
with the tax notice
How much work remains for you?
Around eight hours across the entire process. GrantOS pulls evidence via API from Personio, HiBob, DATEV, Jira, Linear, GitHub and other systems and creates the documentation automatically. We handle the rest.
about 8 hours
Forschungszulage or KMU-innovativ, which fits better?
| Criterion | Forschungszulage | KMU-innovativ |
|---|---|---|
| Retroactive | Yes, from 2022 | No, the project starts only after approval |
| Highest rate | up to 42% effective for projects starting from 2026 | up to 70% for small companies, up to 80% with a research partner |
| Scope | up to €4.2M per year | typical project volume €2M to €3M |
| Application status | ongoing | deadlines 15 April and 15 October |
| Company size | all | SMEs with fewer than 250 employees |
| Combinable? | Yes, as long as the same costs are not funded twice. | Yes, as long as the same costs are not funded twice. |
Which questions do we hear most often?
Yes. The financial years 2022 to 2025 can currently be claimed. The deadline for 2022 is 31 December 2026. No application before project start is required.
No. Evidence can be reconstructed from existing systems such as Linear, Jira, Git history, sprint plans and payroll journals.
Yes, but the same costs cannot be funded twice. We separate projects and cost types cleanly.
No. If the allowance exceeds the tax liability, the difference is refunded.
Costs from 2022 can only be claimed until 31 December 2026
A 15-minute intro call shows you which assessment base is realistic.