Further amendment to the Austrian Ordinance on the Research Premium (FoPV)

The amendment to the Austrian Ordinance on the Research Premium (FoPV) from December 2025 introduced, among others, a new provision regarding “market-oriented research and experimental development (R&D)” (Annex I, part B subsec. 7a FoPV). This new provision led to numerous questions and uncertainties at companies, since, depending on the interpretation, it would have considerably limited the assessment basis of the research premium for market-oriented research and experimental development. The Austrian Ministry of Finance (BMF) reacted by publishing a further amendment to the FoPV (Austrian Federal Law Gazette (BGBl) II. No. 82/2026) on 1 April 2026.

What you need to know:

• The provision of subsec. 7a in Annex I, part B FoPV was deleted and replaced by subsec. 10a “production-integrated research and experimental development (R&D)”.
  
• “Production-integrated R&D” means R&D performed on a facility which is also used for commercial purposes and marketable products are produced as part of the R&D or R&D performed on marketable products in continuous production. Subject to appropriate documentation, the following applies:
  • If the primary goal of this production is knowledge gain from R&D, the total corresponding production expenses are to be considered as R&D expenses for the research premium in accordance with section 1 para. 2 FoPV.
  • If, however, the primary goal of this production is to produce marketable products and R&D is merely of supporting nature, only the additional expenses incurred from the experimental nature are to be taken into account pursuant to section 1 para. 2.
• Furthermore, subsec. 10a states that construction and operation of pilot plants (subsec. 10) as well as design, construction and testing of prototypes (subsec. 11) are not covered by this provision, which is generally to be welcomed.
• Pursuant to section 14 para. 6 FoPV, the new provision of subsec 10a is applicable for the first time to research premiums of financial years beginning from 1 January 2026.
  
• Furthermore, the wording in subsec. 2 in the “register of expenses (expenditures) for research and experimental development” (Annex II) was supplemented as follows: “Direct expenses (expenditures), if related to research and experimental development, as well as direct investments in assets subject to capitalisation (including acquisition of properties) pursuant to section 1 para. 2a (Annex I, part A, subsec. 1).”

In practice

Regarding the amended FoPV, clarifying explanations and examples are expected in the final Research Premium Guidelines. After publication, we will inform you on the most important details in a separate newsletter.

If you have any questions, our experts are happy to provide advice.

You will find our newsletters on subsidies on our webpage under the Heading "Insights".

Authors: Cornelia Kalina, Margarete Kinz