Australia: Overview

1. Ask whether the people who will prepare the claim are registered tax agents, and check the Tax Practitioners Board register. Anyone who charges a fee for a tax agent service must be a registered tax agent, and the Board must keep a register of registered agents and make it available on the internet; you can search it by name or registration number.4Source 4Tax Agent Services Act 2009, Compilation No. 27 (authorised version C2026C00441), sections 50-5 and 60-135; Tax Practitioners Board, TPB Register, read 13 October 2026. The checking an adviser's credentials page says what registration means and what a listing does and does not tell you.
2. Ask how the adviser decides what qualifies. The department describes core R&D activities as experimental activities whose outcome cannot be known in advance, which follow a systematic progression of work based on established science and are conducted to generate new knowledge. It says the company is responsible for making sure the activities it registers are eligible.5Source 5Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Conducting core R&D activities for the R&D Tax Incentive (business.gov.au), citing section 355-25(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997; Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Assuring integrity in the R&D Tax Incentive: "you are responsible for making sure the R&D activities you register are eligible". An adviser should be able to show how your projects meet that description and name work they would leave out (how do you decide what qualifies?).
3. Check the registration deadline before anything else. Ten months after the end of the income year is the deadline to apply, with extensions by request; after the deadline a registration can only be varied to remove or narrow activities, or for minor amendments.6Source 6Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Request an extension or variation on your R&D Tax Incentive application (business.gov.au). An adviser who proposes a claim for an earlier year should be asked to show how it is still open (cold calls about unclaimed refunds).
4. Ask how the fee is calculated and what it covers. The engagement letter decides four things: what the fee is a percentage of, what happens to it if the department or the ATO reduces the claim, whether help with a review or examination is included, and who owns the working papers. Read it against the twenty questions and the contracts section. This page does not set out the fee and preparer rules in full.
5. Read the activity descriptions before they are registered. The company registers the activities and lodges the return, and answers for both; the your responsibility page sets out what that means, including the ATO's amendment periods and the department's findings.

If the department reviews or examines the registration, or the ATO reviews the claim, read if your claim is reviewed and take advice before you reply. If the problem is the adviser, the complaints about an adviser page sets out the order: the firm first, then the Tax Practitioners Board, which also asks whether you want to complain to the ATO, the Board, or both.3Source 3Tax Practitioners Board, Complaints (online form), read 13 October 2026.

• Checking an adviser's credentials, your responsibility, if your claim is reviewed and complaints about an adviser
• Who is named on the claim? and what qualifications does the team have?
• How to choose an R&D tax adviser

Sources

1. Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Apply for the R&D Tax Incentive (business.gov.au): "The deadline to apply for the R&DTI is 10 months after the end of your company's income year".  Back
2. Tax Agent Services Act 2009, sections 30-5, 30-10 and 30-15 (Compilation No. 27, 1 October 2026); Tax Agent Services (Code of Professional Conduct) Determination 2024.  Back
3. Tax Practitioners Board, Complaints (online form), read 13 October 2026.   Back
4. Tax Agent Services Act 2009, Compilation No. 27 (authorised version C2026C00441), sections 50-5 and 60-135; Tax Practitioners Board, TPB Register, read 13 October 2026.  Back
5. Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Conducting core R&D activities for the R&D Tax Incentive (business.gov.au), citing section 355-25(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997; Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Assuring integrity in the R&D Tax Incentive: "you are responsible for making sure the R&D activities you register are eligible".  Back
6. Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Request an extension or variation on your R&D Tax Incentive application (business.gov.au).  Back