This article focuses on the fiscal incentives for research and development (R@D) in 20 selected EU countries. Although the single market is one of the preconditions of the EU functioning, the market for innovation and R@D within which fiscal incentives operate is very heterogeneous. The article´s aim is to compare fiscal incentives and the generosity of tax incentives using the method of B-index (Warda, 2001) and tax subsidy rates. Within the EU, only Germany, Finland and Estonia do not currently have a tax policy aimed directly at stimulating R@D. The results indicate the existence of substantial differences in provided incentives - from negative support or tax burden (in Germany, Denmark and Finland) to 43% tax subsidy (for SMEs in France) . The most generous R@D tax incentives are in Portugal, France and Spain. Some countries differentiate the level of subsidy across firm types and offer more generous support for SMEs than for large firms, e.g. subsidy tax rates are 29% vs. 10% in the UK and 26% vs. 43% in France. In addition, differences are reported in the largesse of tax subsidy by profit scenario - the highest support is reported in a loss-making scenario in France for SMEs.