Treasurer Jim Chalmers has flagged a crackdown on taxpayer money being used for poker machines research and development after an Australian Taxation Office report showed millions of dollars flowing to pokie makers.

ASX-listed poker machine giant Aristocrat had an R&D budget of $22.1 million in 2021-22, according to the ATO data released earlier this month, and Ainsworth Game Technology claimed a budget of $15 million.