SR&ED Tax Credit Estimator

Canada's SR&ED program refunds a meaningful share of qualifying R&D wages in cash. Most founders have no idea how much until it is too late to document it properly.

Reading This Tool

How To Use This Calculator

Enter your annual R&D or engineering wage spend and select your province.

The proxy overhead rate approximates lab and facility costs without tracking every receipt individually, 55% is the traditional maximum most claimants use. The stacked bar shows how much of that spend could come back in cash between the federal and provincial credits; the sidebar translates that into a plain estimate of what's at stake if the claim goes undocumented.

Your Inputs

Annual R&D / Engineering Wages $400,000

Proxy Overhead Rate 55%

Province

Corporate Status

CCPC Non-CCPC

The proxy method adds a prescribed overhead amount (historically up to 55% of salary) on top of wages to approximate lab/overhead costs, instead of tracking every overhead receipt. CCPCs below the taxable income and taxable capital phase-out thresholds get the enhanced 35% federal rate on the first $3M of qualified expenditure; the rest of this tool's estimate assumes you are under that cap.

Estimated Cash Refund

Total Projected Cash Refund

Qualified SR&ED Expenditure

Federal ITC (35% / 15%)

Provincial Credit

R&D Spend vs. Projected Cash Refund

Total R&D Spend Federal ITC Provincial Credit

Federal and provincial SR&ED rates, expenditure limits, and phase-out thresholds are simplified here for illustration. Actual eligibility depends on taxable income, taxable capital, associated-company rules, and whether your specific work meets the CRA's technical definition of eligible R&D.

Think this work qualifies? Let us check properly.

Book an SR&ED Readiness Audit →