Overview of Tax Breaks and Direct Subsidy Schemes for Research in Austria

The study processes the complex data on direct and tax subsidies for research and its financing in Austria. The scope and distribution of direct research promotion schemes are shown through budget data, R&D surveys, a global estimate by Statistics Austria and data from the research promotion agencies (FFG, AWS, CDG, FWF). In addition, the study provides a forecast of the expected cost of tax breaks for research promotion for 2009 to 2013, assuming that the currently applicable rules governing exemptions are abolished and private research receives government funding only by way of a research premium. At a premium rate of 8 percent, the total cost for the five years would be about € 1.8 billion; increasing the premium to 12 percent would result in additional costs of at least € 900 million. Capping the research premium at € 10 million per company would cut costs by 10 to 15 percent.