Comparison: ZIM and Forschungszulage
| Criterion | ZIM | Forschungszulage |
|---|---|---|
| Type of Funding | Project-based funding | Tax-based funding |
| Timing of Funding | Ex-ante: application required before project start | Ex-post: application possible retroactively (for past years) |
| Funding Rate | Up to 45 % for young companies, 55 % for cooperative projects | 35 % of personnel costs and, where applicable, contract research |
| Maximum Funding | Up to approx. €550,000 per individual project | Max. €1 million grant per year per company (based on max. €4 million eligible expenditure) |
| Bureaucracy / Effort | High: application, project plan, reports, interim and final reports | Moderate: application with project description, verification by tax adviser |
| Approval Process | Competitive, reviewed by a project management agency (e.g. AiF) | Legal entitlement, no comparative evaluation against other projects |
| Eligible Projects | Only innovative FuE projects with technical risk | Broader scope, including incremental research or internal prototype development |
| Target Group | KMU and start-ups with some FuE experience | All companies, regardless of size, industry, or age |
| Cooperation required? | No, but cooperative projects receive higher funding | No, fully in-house projects are eligible |