The grants, tax incentives and thresholds the law sets for a growing business

Five guides

1. Export Market Development Grants

   Matched funding for export marketing: the eligibility conditions, the three tiers, the half-of-expenses rule and the $770,000 lifetime limit. No grant round was open on 10 October 2026.

   Export Market Development Grants Rules 2021, ss 10, 48, 49 and 53

2. The R&D Tax Incentive

   The Act’s rate table, the intensity premium, the $20,000 floor, what happens above $150 million, and the registration deadline.

   Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, s 355-100; Industry Research and Development Act 1986, s 27D

3. Raising money by crowd-sourced funding

   When a company and its offer qualify, the $5 million issuer cap, the offer document, and the two limits that protect retail investors.

   Corporations Act 2001, Part 6D.3A

4. Early stage innovation companies

   The early stage test printed whole, the 100-point table, what the law gives investors, and the report the company owes the ATO.

   Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, Subdivision 360-A

5. Payroll tax outside NSW

   The threshold and rate in each of the seven other states and territories, each from its own law and dated.

   Seven payroll tax Acts and the ACT’s 2026 determination

The lines these laws draw

Each law measures a business at a set moment and draws a line. These are the lines, as each law words them, on the versions read on 10 October 2026.

• Less than $20,000,000Turnover in the financial year before applying for an export grant, which must also be more than $100,000, or a higher amount the CEO of Austrade decides.EMDG Rules 2021, s 10(2)(f)
• Less than $20 millionAggregated turnover for the income year at which the R&D tax offset is the corporate tax rate plus 18.5 percentage points, and refundable, unless the exempt-entity item applies.ITAA 1997, s 355-100(1), item 1 and Note 1
• Less than $25 millionConsolidated gross assets, and consolidated annual revenue, of a company and its related parties, for crowd-sourced funding, unless the regulations prescribe a different amount.Corporations Act 2001, s 738H(2)
• $1 million or less, and $200,000 or lessTotal expenses, and total assessable income, in the income year before an early stage innovation company issues its shares.ITAA 1997, s 360-40(1)(b) and (c)
• State by statePayroll tax thresholds. Among them, $1,000,000 a year in Western Australia, for financial years beginning on or after 1 July 2020, and $2,500,000 in the Northern Territory, under its Act as in force at 1 July 2026.Pay-roll Tax Assessment Act 2002 (WA), s 8; Payroll Tax Act 2009 (NT), Sch 1

These are not one test repeated. Some count related businesses, some count turnover and others assets, revenue, expenses or income, and some look at the year before. Each guide prints its law’s own words, so the line can be read exactly.

What the law offers, and what it does not promise

None of these laws hands money over on request. The Export Market Development Grants Act says the CEO of Austrade “may” make grants to eligible persons, under a grant agreement. Austrade’s page, read on 10 October 2026, says “Currently there are no grant rounds open to applications.”

The R&D Tax Incentive starts with registration, and business.gov.au says registration “does not confirm” that the activities are eligible. An early stage innovation company’s shares can bring its investors a tax offset, and the ATO warns that a ruling on the company should not be used in promotional material to imply that the ATO guarantees or endorses investing in it. And ASIC’s guide for companies says investments through crowd-sourced funding offers may be highly speculative.

Payroll tax runs the other way: it is a tax the business pays on wages, under each state’s own Act, such as Queensland’s rate of 4.75% of taxable wages. A business with staff in more than one state meets more than one law, and the payroll tax guide sets the seven side by side.

Dates that matter on this site

• 1 July 2025. Victoria’s payroll tax deduction of $1,000,000 a year applies from this date onward.
• 1 July 2026. The ACT’s payroll tax determination DI2026-151 commenced, with an annual threshold of $1,750,000.
• 19 September 2026. The compilation of the Corporations Act this site reads for crowd-sourced funding.
• 10 October 2026. Every source on this site was read on this date.