Sector expertise
R&D Tax Credits for Engineering Companies in Ireland
Engineering businesses often solve hard technical problems through design, prototyping, testing and iteration. If your team is developing new products, improving systems, solving performance issues, integrating complex technology or validating a new technical approach, the work may qualify for R&D Tax Credit support.
Sector innovation
Innovation in the engineering sector
The sector includes mechanical, electrical, civil, structural, process, precision and industrial engineering firms, along with companies that design, test or integrate technical systems. Many projects involve uncertainty in performance, materials, tolerances, durability, safety, integration or scale-up.
This can include work across:
- New product and component development
- Mechanical, electrical and control-system design
- Prototype design, build and testing
- Materials, tolerances and performance improvement
- Automation, robotics and technical integration
- Process engineering and engineering methods
- Energy, efficiency and reliability improvements
- Testing rigs, simulation and validation methods
- Technical problem solving for harsh or regulated environments
- Data capture, monitoring and connected systems
- R&D Capital Allowances and grant readiness
For R&D Tax Credit purposes, the key question is not whether the engineering project is commercially useful. It is whether competent professionals faced scientific or technological uncertainty and carried out systematic work to resolve it.
A note from Kirsten
For engineering R&D claims, evidence and clarity matter.
Engineering claims can be complex because design improvement, troubleshooting and genuine R&D often overlap. Our role is to help explain the technical uncertainty, separate qualifying activity from routine engineering, and connect project evidence to the claim.
Kirsten Winsryg
Irish Lead, InnoFund
- 20+ years in corporate accountancy, grant and audit management.
- Specialist support for Irish R&D Tax Credit claims.
- Technical, financial and Revenue-side compliance support for innovation funding claims.
Client experience
Engineering Companies Recommend InnoFund
Practical support from a multidisciplinary team that understands both the technical work and the claim.
Clear boundaries
Not every engineering project qualifies for R&D Tax Credits.
Routine design, normal engineering support and standard troubleshooting will usually fall outside the scope of R&D.
Examples of work that may not qualify include:
- Standard engineering design using established methods
- Routine maintenance, repair or operational support
- Simple installation of off-the-shelf equipment
- Minor product changes with no technical uncertainty
- Standard quality control, inspection or compliance testing
- Known process improvements based on existing best practice
- Commercial design changes with no technical advance
Many engineering projects contain both qualifying and non-qualifying activity. A practical product or process project may still include eligible R&D if part of the work involved resolving genuine uncertainty in design, materials, integration, performance or validation.
Eligible expenditure
Eligible R&D costs for engineering businesses
Engineering businesses may be able to include a range of qualifying costs where they relate directly to eligible R&D activity, including:
- Employee costs for engineers, designers, technicians, developers and technical leads
- Employer PRSI, pension contributions and other relevant employment costs
- Subcontracted R&D, subject to the relevant rules and limits
- Prototype materials, components, consumables, trial builds and testing costs
- Software, data and control systems used directly in qualifying R&D
- Relevant overheads and apportionments where properly evidenced
The correct treatment of prototypes, trial builds, subcontractors, connected parties, staff apportionment and capital expenditure is especially important for engineering claims. InnoFund reviews the technical and financial position together so the claim is accurate and defensible.
Evidence & scrutiny
Revenue risk areas for engineering R&D claims
Revenue may ask a company to explain what scientific or technological advancement was sought, what uncertainty existed and what evidence supports the claim. Engineering claims should be more than a list of design changes, efficiency gains or commercial benefits.
Common risk areas include:
- Claims focused on commercial improvement rather than scientific or technological uncertainty
- Weak explanation of the baseline technology or engineering approach
- Poor separation between routine engineering and qualifying R&D
- Insufficient records of trials, failures, iterations or decision points
- Over-claiming standard testing, maintenance or troubleshooting
- Unclear treatment of subcontractors, grants, prototypes, scrap or consumables
Your next step
Do not guess. Know whether your engineering work qualifies.
Have an engineering project you want to discuss InnoFund helps separate routine engineering from genuine R&D so claims are accurate, compliant and properly evidenced.
- 30 minutes
- Expert guidance
- Commitment free