Bonus for Research Personnel Exclusively Assigned to R&D&I Activities

What is it?

Research personnel bonuses are a non-tax incentive aimed at promoting the hiring and maintenance of researchers by companies. By applying this right, companies can receive a rebate of up to 40% of the Social Security contributions they pay for each professional dedicated to R&D&I.

The bonuses, during the last few years, have been regulated by Royal Decree 475/2014, of June 13, on bonuses in Social Security contributions for research personnel and the ENAC RDE. 

As of September 1, 2023, the new regulation, Royal Decree-Law 1/2023, of January 10, on urgent measures on incentives for labor hiring and improvement of the social protection of artists, came into force, in which it happens to regulate the new conditions. This new RD caused certain changes in the requirements to be met by the research personnel and in the benefit that this bonus may entail, such as:

• The bonuses will only apply to new permanent contracts.
• There will be an additional 5% bonus if under 30 years of age are hired.
• There will be an additional 5% bonus if women are hired.
• A maximum bonus period of 3 years will be allowed for research personnel, in the case of new hires in the company.

The activities that are considered as R&D&I include activities such as the study of the state of the art prior to the project, project planning, technical execution of the project, validation of prototypes/pilot tests, project coordination meetings, and preparation of meeting minutes and internal project follow-up reports.

In addition, up to 15% of the time dedicated to collateral tasks, such as technology watch, grant justification, publication writing, patent preparation, among others, is allowed to count as exclusive dedication to R&D activities. These collateral activities must not be necessary for the execution of the specific project and may not exceed 15% of the researcher's total work time.

Regarding the certification of the R&D&I activity for bonus purposes, a minimum period of three months and a maximum of twelve months is established.