The basic objective of the R&D qualification system is to enhance legal certainty in the use of R&D-related subsidies and tax incentives. The expert opinion issued by the NRDI Office can provide a basis for the use of R&D tax incentives and support for R&D investments by foreign companies in Hungary, as well as a professional guarantee for the allocation of domestic or EU funds and the use of public R&D funding.

According to the definition of the RDI Act, research and development includes basic research, applied research and experimental development. The R&D qualification procedures are formally regulated by Chapter VI of the RDI Act.

Upon request, the NRDI Office will examine whether the individual project described by the applicant or the projects grouped together by the applicant can be considered as research and development activities within the meaning of Article 3 of the RDI Act.

Applications for R&D qualification procedures can be submitted electronically via the NRDI Office’s website (https://kfivelemeny.nkfih.gov.hu).

R&D qualification procedures can be initiated at the NRDI Office as described above:

I. Project qualification

In the project qualification procedure, the NRDI Office will qualify the designated project on the basis of whether its activities can be considered research and development.

Furthermore, the Office shall, at the request of the applicant, determine

• the proportion of the project’s basic research, applied research or experimental development activities;
• whether the activity in question is carried out by the applicant in the scope of its own activities within the meaning of Section 4(32) of Act LXXXI of 1996 on Corporate Tax and Dividend Tax;
• the marketability qualification of the project, if required by the funder in the call for proposals.

The determination of exact proportions is necessary in certain cases to qualify for R&D funding, as different funding intensities may be linked to different R&D activities and tax incentives may be available for R&D carried out in its normal course of business.

The procedure – whereby anyone (e.g. tax authorities during a tax audit, other authorities or courts, but also market operators) can contact the NRDI Office as an expert to qualify the identified activities from an R&D perspective and to answer other technical questions – is targeted at a specific project. The expert opinion is not binding.

The procedure can be initiated after registration on the NRDI Office’s website. The deadline for the expert opinion is 30 days, which may be extended once by 15 days. The deadline does not include the time taken to respond to a deficiency notice.

The expert procedure is subject to a fee:

The gross fee for the project qualification procedure is HUF 83,000.
The gross fee for an application for the determination of activity proportions is HUF 20,000.
The gross fee for an application for establishing whether an activity is performed in the applicant’s normal course of business is HUF 30,000.
The gross fee for the marketability assessment is HUF 100,000.

The fees for the project qualification procedure, the application for proportion determination, the application assessment of the scope of own activities and the application for marketability assessment shall be paid by transfer against an invoice issued by the NRDI Office to the appropriation allocation account of the NRDI Office held with the Hungarian State Treasury, number HU59-10032000-00334820-00000000, indicating the identification data and the legal grounds (R&D project qualification).

II. Project group qualification

Upon request, the NRDI Office will classify project groups according to whether the projects included in the project groups by the applicant can be considered as research and development (R&D) activities. A positive project group qualification covers all projects in the project group.

The project group qualification procedure consists of the following two stages:

1. approval of the project groups and project selection;
2. project group qualification.

Both stages of the procedure start at the request of the applicant. The application can be submitted electronically using a dedicated form after registration on the NRDI Office’s website (https://kfivelemeny.nkfih.gov.hu). The expert opinion is not binding.

1. Approval of project groups and project selection
   On the form the applicant can name the project groups and a provide a short description of the projects they include. The NRDI Office decides on the acceptance of the project groups and selects those projects from the project groups that it requests to be presented in detail for further examination and whose positive qualification will establish a presumption of R&D activity for all projects in the project group.
2. Project group qualification
   The applicant may submit a project group qualification application for the selected projects to the NRDI Office, providing a detailed description of the selected projects. The applicant shall pay the procedure fee at the same time as submitting the application for project group qualification. The NRDI Office will take a decision on the project group qualification within 30 days, which may be extended by 15 days if necessary.

The expert procedure is subject to a fee:

The gross expert fee for the project group qualification procedure is HUF 678,000.
The fee shall be paid by transfer against an invoice issued by the NRDI Office to the appropriation allocation fund account of the NRDI Office held with the Hungarian State Treasury, number HU59-10032000-00334820-00000000, indicating the identification data and the legal grounds (R&D project group qualification).

Further information:

NRDI Office Customer Service
Phone: 06 1 795 9500
E-mail: nkfihivatal@nkfih.gov.hu or kfminosites@nkfih.gov.hu