Each question below maps to a real condition of the Innovation Tax Credit scheme. Here is what it tests, and why it decides the outcome.
01 — Company size
With turnover under €50m, or a balance-sheet total under €43m.
Unlike the CIR, which is open to companies of any size, the CII is reserved for SMEs as EU law defines them. The thresholds are measured across linked companies, which catches out subsidiaries of larger groups more often than you would expect.
02 — A product not yet sold
The CII funds design work, not selling. The spending has to happen before the product reaches the market. Once it is on sale, the window has closed for that spending. The project may still be real, but those costs no longer qualify.
03 — Improvement over the market
In technical performance, eco-design, ergonomics, or features.
Those four dimensions are the ones the statute names, and the list is closed. A product that is cheaper or better marketed but technically equivalent does not qualify. The comparison is against what the market offers, not against your own previous range.
04 — Prototype or pilot
Eligible spending is the cost of designing prototypes or pilot installations of new products. That is what the scheme attaches to: without one there is nothing to claim against, however real the project is.
05 — Overlap with the CIR
The CIR and the CII can both be claimed, but never on the same euro. The line is drawn project by project, and it is one of the first things the tax authority checks. Counting a cost twice, even by accident, weakens both claims at once.
06 — Financial position
The CII sits under the EU State aid rules, which exclude firms in difficulty as that term is defined there. The CIR carries no such condition.
