Forschungszulage Personnel Costs: Guide (2026)

Why This Article Matters (and What Many Companies Underestimate)

In practice, funding rarely fails because of the idea – it fails because costs, and specifically personnel costs, are not cleanly assigned to the innovation project or are not documented in an audit-proof way. Companies that get this right often recover five- to six-figure sums quickly – even when the company is currently not making profits (payment/refund is possible when the credit exceeds the tax liability).

Which Personnel Costs Are Eligible for the Forschungszulage?

For Forschungszulage personnel costs, the following are primarily eligible:

• Wages and salaries (subject to wage tax) of employees working on the eligible project
• Future security contributions by the employer (typically employer shares of social insurance, to the extent eligible)
• (In certain cases) own work by sole proprietors / co-entrepreneurs, at the statutory hourly rate

Important: What matters is not the job title or department, but the actual activity within the innovation project.

Calculating Forschungszulage Personnel Costs: How to Determine the Eligible Share

Calculating Forschungszulage personnel costs: How to determine the eligible share

The calculation follows a clear principle in practice:

1. Determine total personnel costs per employee for the fiscal year (gross wages + eligible employer components).
2. Determine the project share: what demonstrable proportion of working time was spent on the eligible innovation project?
3. This gives the eligible assessment base per person:

• eligible personnel costs = total personnel costs × project time share

4. Apply the funding rate to the total:

• Standard: 25%
• SMEs (upon application / when criteria are met): 35%

Brief Example After the March 2024 Amendment (one employee)

Brief example after the March 2024 amendment (one employee)

• Total personnel costs: €80,000
• Project share: 60%
• Eligible personnel costs: €48,000
• Forschungszulage: 25% = €12,000 (SMEs: 35% = €16,800)

What Limits and Changes Should You Know About?

(Status 2026)

Important for planning:

• Maximum assessment base:
• from 28.03.2024: €10 million per year
• from 01.01.2026: €12 million per year
• Maximum credit per year (from the assessment base):
• from 28.03.2024: up to €2.5 million (SMEs: €3.5 million)
• from 01.01.2026: up to €3.0 million (SMEs: €4.2 million)
• Own work (entrepreneur hours):
• from 01.01.2026: €100 / hour (at max. 40 hrs/week, for specific groups only)

Documentation: No Personnel Cost Funding Without Evidence

For personnel costs to be recognized, you need a plausible, consistent, and auditable basis – typically:

• a clear activity delimitation (what is "innovation in the project" vs. routine/support?)
• time tracking or equivalent internal records (project-related)
• payroll records (as the basis for personnel costs)
• a clear project structure (work packages / milestones) so that the time share can be logically explained

Documents needed to calculate and substantiate personnel costs: time tracking, payroll account, project structure.

If you are just getting started: at zeitmaker.com you will find practical guides on how to structure innovation projects cleanly and assign costs correctly.

Application and Process: Two Stages (BSFZ + Tax Office)

Application and process: Two stages (BSFZ + tax office)

The Forschungszulage runs in two stages:

1. Certification of the innovation project at the BSFZ (online):

Official portal: https://www.bescheinigung-forschungszulage.de/

2. Then application for the Forschungszulage at the tax office (electronically, after the end of the fiscal year).

Good to know: The credit is offset against the tax liability – and paid out if it exceeds the assessed tax.

Why the Forschungszulage Is So Attractive (Especially for Personnel Costs)

• Plannable: Personnel costs are recurring, well-documentable, and the largest cost block in innovation projects.
• Liquidity-effective: also for startups / companies in loss phases.
• Scalable: through the high assessment limits (from 2026 up to €12 million).

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