SIFIDE in numbers: high demand and thousands of applications still under assessment

The SIFIDE indicator dashboard, updated on 25 August 2026, shows how the incentive has evolved since 2006. Over that period, 32,597 applications were approved, submitted by 10,277 different companies. The R&D investment recognised reached 12,575.1 million euros and the tax credit granted totalled 6,545.7 million euros.

These figures confirm the scale SIFIDE has achieved. Reading the most recent years, however, requires a distinction between demand for the incentive and the results already determined. In 2024 and, above all, in 2025, the amounts approved reflect only the share of applications that have already reached a decision.

Demand on a different scale

In 2006, 442 applications were received. Annual volume stayed close to one thousand for several years but accelerated from 2017: 2,378 applications in 2019, 3,358 in 2020, 4,486 in 2022 and a peak of 5,705 in 2023.

In 2024, the total fell to 3,222 applications, rising again to 3,630 in 2025. Between those two years, the number of applications grew by 12.7%, declared investment rose from 2,134.3 million to 2,354.2 million euros and the tax credit claimed increased from 723.9 million to 797 million euros.

Although 2025 remains below the 2023 peak, demand is still far higher than at the start of the series. SIFIDE has gone from a few hundred to several thousand projects a year, which has also increased the volume of applications to be assessed.

2024: more than half of the applications without a recorded approval

In 2024, 3,222 applications were received. On the date the dashboard was updated, only 1,500 were shown as approved. More than 1,700 applications — 53.4% of the total — therefore had no recorded approval.

This does not mean they were rejected. The breakdown by status shows that assessment was clearly the dominant situation among these applications, with only a residual share classified as not approved. The main conclusion is that, in August 2026, a very significant part of the 2024 cycle was still to be concluded.

The timeline reinforces this reading. For companies whose tax period coincides with the calendar year, applications for activities carried out in 2024 could be submitted until 31 May 2025. Almost fifteen months had therefore passed since the general application deadline, and fewer than half of the applications received showed a recorded approval.

The 368.8 million euros of recognised investment and the 167.8 million euros of tax credit granted must be read in this context. They relate to the applications already approved, not to the full 2,134.3 million euros of declared investment and 723.9 million euros of credit claimed.

The difference between these amounts does not represent rejected expenditure. A substantial part of the declared investment remained tied to applications still under assessment. For that reason, the data available does not allow a final investment recognition rate to be calculated for 2024.

2025: only three approvals, in a cycle still at an early stage

In 2025, 3,630 applications were received, with 2,354.2 million euros of declared investment and 797 million euros of tax credit claimed. However, only three were shown as approved, corresponding to 7.7 million euros of recognised investment and 3.2 million euros of credit granted.

With only three decisions, the approval indicators, averages and annual breakdown by company size cannot describe the outcome of 2025. They describe only the first applications decided.

This figure must, however, be placed in the calendar. Applications for activities carried out in 2025 could, as a rule, be submitted until 31 May 2026. When the dashboard was updated, less than three months had passed. The small number of approvals shows a cycle still at an early stage, but does not, on its own, point to an abnormal delay in that year.

The most relevant point comes from reading both periods together: the 2025 cycle had already been submitted while most of the 2024 applications still had no recorded approval.

Overlapping cycles prolong the uncertainty

The large number of applications under assessment is not just an indicator of the administrative pace of the process. It has consequences for companies' tax and financial management.

In an organisation that uses SIFIDE every year, three financial years can coexist at different stages: the 2024 application still under assessment, the 2025 application already submitted and the 2026 R&D activities under way, which may feed into the next cycle.

The dashboard does not show how many companies are in exactly this situation. However, the size of the population still under assessment in 2024 shows that this overlap may affect a significant number of recurring applicants. This is an inference supported by the fact that more than half of that year's applications had no recorded approval when the deadline for the following cycle had already passed.

The main consequence is uncertainty about the investment that ANI will recognise and the tax credit that will be granted. The application identifies a declared investment and a claimed credit, but these amounts remain subject to assessment. Until the decision, the company does not know the final amount.

This uncertainty becomes significant when SIFIDE carries material weight in tax and financial planning. The company may have to prepare forecasts, estimate the impact of the incentive and plan new investments without yet knowing the outcome of the previous year.

The problem is not only the waiting time. It is moving into new cycles while the outcome of earlier ones remains open. The greater the overlap, the greater the time gap between the estimated benefit, the credit claimed and the amount granted by ANI.

SIFIDE management should therefore separate four levels of information for each financial year: declared investment, credit claimed, amounts still pending assessment, and amounts already determined and granted.

A scenario-based approach prevents the claimed credit from being treated as final ahead of time. The company can work with a central estimate and alternative assumptions, updating its forecasts as decisions are received. This monitoring is particularly relevant when applications from several years coexist at different stages.

Industry leads, but investment is diversified

Between 2006 and 2025, industry accounts for around 46% of the R&D investment recognised. It is followed by information and communication with 15%, other services with 13%, trade with 11%, and construction and real estate with approximately 6%.

By individual activity, information and communication shows the largest volume, with 1,906.8 million euros. It is followed by trade with 1,368.8 million, technical and scientific consultancy with 1,355.3 million, pharmaceutical products and preparations with 979.2 million, and construction and real estate with 748.3 million euros.

The individual lead of information and communication does not contradict the overall weight of industry. Industry groups several branches — pharmaceuticals, transport equipment, metallurgy, food, electrical and electronic equipment, chemicals, and machinery and equipment — that appear separately in the detailed ranking.

The data confirms a strong industrial base, but also cross-sector use of the incentive. A company's sector does not, by itself, determine whether it qualifies for SIFIDE; what matters is the nature of the R&D activities actually carried out.

SMEs account for almost 44% of the credit granted

Companies classified as non-SMEs received around 3,692 million euros of tax credit between 2006 and 2025, corresponding to 56.4% of the total.

Medium-sized companies received 1,386 million euros, small companies 1,016 million and micro-enterprises 449 million. Together, SMEs accounted for approximately 2,851 million euros, or 43.6% of the credit granted.

There is greater financial concentration in larger companies, but the weight of SMEs remains significant. These figures describe the distribution of accumulated credit; they do not measure the probability of approval by company size.

Nor should conclusions be drawn from the 2025 breakdown, based on only three approved applications. The share shown for each size class may change substantially as the assessment progresses.

Managing SIFIDE beyond submission

ANI's indicators show two simultaneous trends. The first is the consolidation of SIFIDE as an instrument supporting business R&D, with thousands of applications a year and a presence across different sectors and company sizes. The second is the build-up of applications still under assessment, particularly visible in 2024. More than half of that year's applications had no recorded approval when the 2025 cycle had already been submitted. For 2025, only three approvals appeared on the dashboard, although the assessment was still at an early stage.

This data does not demonstrate a fall in accepted expenditure, nor does it allow final approval rates to be calculated for the most recent years. It shows that the 2024 and 2025 cycles are at different stages and are not yet consolidated.

For companies that use the incentive regularly, the consequence is clear: they may need to manage, at the same time, an earlier application still awaiting a decision, a new application already submitted and another investment period under way. The challenge is no longer only preparing the application; it also lies in monitoring several financial years together and building the uncertainty into tax and financial planning.

Does your company have SIFIDE applications still under assessment, or has it submitted a new cycle without knowing the outcome of the previous one? Our team supports the integrated management of applications, the monitoring of amounts under assessment and the construction of scenarios that bring the tax benefit into planning with greater rigour.

Source: ANI, "Activity Indicators" page and "SIFIDE — Tax Incentive System for R&D — 2006 to 2025" dashboard, with data updated on 25 August 2026.