With a fresh financial year now beginning for Australian businesses and mid-year reviews landing in other regions, Catalyst Research Solutions is urging companies to revisit what they spend on innovation and to check whether that spending could qualify for tax relief or grant funding. The consultancy specialises in identifying, preparing and supporting research and development claims, and July ranks among the busiest stretches on its calendar as firms in several markets close off the year gone by and set their plans for the year ahead.
A global tax incentive and grants consultancy, Catalyst Research Solutions works with businesses across Australia, Germany, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Its central focus is unlocking cash for companies by helping them access and maximise research and development tax credits, supported by a broader portfolio spanning grants and incentives, energy savings, carbon and compliance, and ESG reporting through its Econest Tech platform. Running through all of this is one simple premise: a great deal of the value companies generate through innovation and efficiency never gets claimed, and a structured, well evidenced approach can bring it back.
Research and development tax relief takes a different shape in each market the firm serves, and the rules are seldom straightforward. In South Africa the incentive falls under section 11D of the Income Tax Act and provides a 150 per cent deduction for qualifying research and development activity, so a company can deduct more than it actually spends once the work satisfies the required tests. Recent amendments widened the definition of qualifying activity and did away with the previous exclusion on internal business process improvements, which has brought more companies into scope. Applications need pre-approval from the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation before deductions can be claimed through SARS, and this is precisely the sort of process where experienced R&D Tax consultants can be the difference between a clean, defensible claim and a missed opportunity.
Australia presents a different picture again, with the financial year having just wrapped up at the end of June and companies now assembling the records needed to back their annual claims. Turning to an experienced R&D Tax specialist at this stage of the year lets businesses capture eligible activity while the detail is still fresh, instead of trying to piece it back together months later once information has faded. In the United Kingdom, the R&D Tax Incentive keeps evolving as the government tightens compliance and documentation demands, which puts a premium on claims prepared with care and supported by clear technical evidence.
The common thread across these markets is the danger that companies either miss out completely or file claims that cannot withstand scrutiny. Plenty of businesses picture research and development as people in white coats, when in reality it spans a much broader range of work: creating new products, refining manufacturing processes, writing software that resolves real technical problems, and testing whether an idea can be made to work at all. Firms doing this kind of work daily often fail to recognise it as qualifying research, and so they leave funding untouched.
Closing that gap is what Catalyst Research Solutions has built its practice around. The firm brings more than fifteen years of experience serving large listed companies, private businesses and small and medium enterprises, and it reports having helped clients access roughly 735 million dollars in cash across the incentive schemes it covers. It describes access to more than nineteen mechanisms for recovering savings through various programmes, letting its teams look past any single incentive and assemble a fuller view of what a business might be owed. That breadth matters, since a company qualifying for research and development relief will frequently qualify for grants, energy savings or carbon related benefits too.
The consultancy forms part of the VAT IT Group, a long established international tax compliance business, and it taps that wider network when serving clients that operate across borders. For a company with a presence in more than one of Catalyst’s markets, this means working with a single partner that grasps how the rules vary between countries, rather than stitching together advice from several disconnected advisers. Across the years the firm has supported organisations in a variety of sectors, including manufacturing, technology and industrial businesses, and it builds its service around evidence, accuracy and long term relationships instead of one off filings.
The process the firm follows is meant to lighten the load on the client. Its teams work side by side with finance and technical staff to pinpoint qualifying activity, collect the supporting records, quantify eligible costs and assemble the documentation that tax authorities require. With requirements tightening in several markets, this focus on robust evidence has taken on greater weight. A well prepared claim not only stands a stronger chance of acceptance, it also shields the company should the authority raise questions later.
Industry context reinforces the case for taking research and development incentives seriously. Governments across Australia, Germany, South Africa and the United Kingdom continue to lean on these programmes to spur private investment in innovation, while at the same time sharpening their oversight to ensure the relief lands on genuine activity. That pairing, more funding available on one hand and closer scrutiny on the other, is exactly why specialist support has grown so valuable. Companies want to claim everything they are entitled to, yet they also want assurance that their claims will hold.
Catalyst Research Solutions casts its role as helping businesses achieve both. By treating research and development relief as part of a wider funding and efficiency strategy rather than an isolated task, the firm sets out to give clients a sharper view of the cash they can recover and reinvest. As the financial calendar rolls over across its markets this July, the consultancy is encouraging companies that have never looked at these incentives, along with those that suspect they have been underclaiming, to examine the position more closely.
Companies wanting to understand what they may be entitled to can find full details on the Catalyst Research Solutions website at https://catalystsolutions.global/.
About Catalyst Research Solutions
Catalyst Research Solutions is a global tax incentive and grants consultancy operating across Australia, Germany, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Part of the VAT IT Group, it helps large listed companies, private businesses and small and medium enterprises access and maximise research and development tax credits, grants and incentives, energy and carbon savings, and ESG reporting through its Econest Tech platform. Drawing on more than fifteen years of experience and access to a wide range of incentive mechanisms, the firm concentrates on recovering cash for clients through accurate, well evidenced claims.
Media Contact
Catalyst Research Solutions
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +61 2 9437 3654
Website: https://catalystsolutions.global/