SR&ED for electronics & hardware
Hardware development runs into physical constraints that don't always have a known solution, which is where SR&ED lives. The eligible work is usually the part where the design had to be figured out against a limit, not the parts that followed a reference design.
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Where the eligible work usually is
- Circuit or RF design meeting power, size, thermal or signal-integrity constraints the standard approaches couldn't hit.
- Solving EMI, thermal or reliability problems with no established fix for your design.
- Firmware or embedded work where hardware limits made the outcome genuinely uncertain.
- Iterating prototypes systematically, with test results that advanced the design's underlying understanding.
What usually doesn't qualify
Designing to a reference design or datasheet, routine PCB layout, integrating known components the standard way, and production testing generally aren't SR&ED. Difficulty and iteration alone don't make work eligible; the outcome has to have been technologically uncertain.
Evidence from the bench
Electronics R&D leaves board revisions, test-bench measurements, thermal and EMC results, simulation outputs, and firmware commit history. SREDlog connects GitHub for the firmware trail and organizes the uploaded bench data against the project, keeping each claimed cost tied to its evidence.
Frequently asked questions
Only the part where a technological uncertainty had to be resolved. Designing to established methods and reference designs, however involved, is routine engineering.
Iteration is supporting evidence, not proof on its own. What matters is that each iteration was testing a hypothesis against a genuine unknown, and that the records show it.
Board revisions, bench measurements, EMC/thermal results and firmware commit history are strong records. See evidence management.
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This guide is general information, not tax advice. SR&ED rules, rates and limits change, so confirm the current figures with the CRA or your advisor before you file.