Technopark or R&D Centre? Not the Same Incentive, and Not for the Same Company (2026)

“Should we go into a technopark or set up an R&D centre?” I hear this question almost every month, and it is usually framed wrongly. Because these are not two brands of the same thing — their mechanisms differ.

Let me put the difference in one sentence: Law 4691 exempts income, Law 5746 deducts expenditure. That sentence already answers most of the question.

Two mechanisms

Technopark (Law No. 4691). Income arising from software, design and R&D activity carried out in the zone is exempt from income and corporate tax. Income arises first, then that income is removed from the tax base.

R&D centre (Law No. 5746). R&D and design expenditure is taken as a deduction. The base falls as you spend; whether there is income is a separate matter.

The practical consequence: an income exemption carries value if there is income to exempt. An expenditure deduction accumulates in every year you spend.

The picture changes with profitability

Picture an early-stage software company: funded, growing the team, not yet profitable. In that company the corporate tax side of a technopark does not actually operate — there is no income to exempt.

What genuinely works for that company is the payroll incentives present in both regimes: the income tax withholding exemption and the employer’s social security support. These are independent of profit and reduce payroll cost from the first month. The detail is in the payroll incentives article.

In a profitable, high-margin, mature software company the equation reverses: the income exemption becomes the largest item.

So the right question is not “which is better” but “what stage is my company at”.

The quantitative condition: the biggest practical difference

Entering a technopark requires space allocation in the zone and acceptance of the project by the zone management company. There is no floor on headcount — a one-person company can operate in a technopark.

An R&D centre, by contrast, is subject to a headcount floor: as of 2026 it requires at least 15 full-time-equivalent (FTE) R&D personnel.

The words “full-time equivalent” matter here. What is counted is not heads but working time devoted to R&D activity. An engineer working half-time counts as 0.5 FTE; personnel who give part of their time to non-R&D work do not count in full either. So a company with 18 people on the payroll may still fall short of 15 FTE if some of them sit on the customer support or sales side.

For many companies this alone settles the question: a team of ten is not choosing — a technopark is the only option.

Location: is there a zone requirement?

Technopark: the activity has to be carried out in the zone. Work outside the zone is subject to its own rules and ratios — see the remote work article.

R&D centre: can be established at the company’s own premises; there is no requirement to sit inside a technology development zone. For companies with a production facility, whose team has to be next to the factory, this is a decisive advantage.

That is why R&D centres are more common in manufacturing companies and technoparks in software companies — not a preference, but a consequence of the physics of the work.

The prohibition on double benefit

Claiming both regimes for the same expenditure or the same income is not possible. A company can, however, have a project in a technopark and an R&D centre at another site.

In that case what matters is separation: which personnel on which project, which expenditure under which regime. Without the separation both regimes become contestable. It is the same logic as the scope separation within a technopark — just one layer more complex.

Four questions for the decision

The order I use with clients:

1. How many FTE R&D personnel do you have? Below 15, the decision is already made. Answer this by time devoted to R&D, not by payroll headcount.
2. Are you profitable? If not, the income exemption is theoretical for now; look at the payroll incentives.
3. Where does the team physically need to be? If it has to sit next to production, a technopark becomes difficult.
4. Will you produce intangible rights? If there is a patentable output, the qualified expenditure ratio calculation engages, and it varies with where you buy your R&D.

Once those four are answered, the decision usually makes itself.

In short

A technopark exempts income; an R&D centre deducts expenditure. In a company that is not profitable the income exemption does not operate, while the payroll incentives in both regimes work from day one. The R&D centre’s 15 FTE condition closes the door for small teams, while the absence of a zone requirement is an advantage for manufacturers.

The decision is not a choice of brand but a consequence of the company’s stage and its physics.

Sources

• Law No. 4691 on Technology Development Zones — Legislation Information System
• Law No. 5746 on Supporting Research, Development and Design Activities — Legislation Information System
• Regulation on the establishment and supervision of R&D centres — Ministry of Industry and Technology

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This article reflects 2026 legislation and is provided for general information only; it is not legal or tax advice. The minimum FTE headcount required for an R&D centre changes through administrative rules — verify the current condition before deciding.