Are you leaving money on the table In relation to R&D?

Accessing the federal government’s research and development tax incentives is often considered too complicated by small to medium enterprises to be worth their while.  However, the benefits are real and quite simply amount to money in the bank.

In recent times some of our clients have had great success accessing their R&D entitlements by engaging experts to review their entitlements and assist with the preparation of the necessary documentation.  That is, someone else has come in and done all the hard work for them which resulted in either a reduction in tax payable or a tax refund.

The first step to be eligible for the R&D Tax Incentive is that a company must be;

a) Conducting an experimental Activity that is Generating NEW KNOWLEDGE;

or

b) Generating new knowledge by developing NEW or IMPROVED;     

• MATERIALS     
• PRODUCTS     
• PROCESSES     
• DEVICES     
• SERVICES

If eligible for the R&D Incentive, Companies are able will receive a Tax Offset based upon their turnover as follows:

• For Companies with Group Turnover Less Than $20M: 45% Refundable Offset (equal to a $0.15 Tax Saving for every dollar of eligible R&D expenditure)
• For Companies with Group Turnover Exceeding $20M: 40% Non-Refundable Offset (equal to a $0.10 Tax Saving for every dollar of eligible R&D expenditure)

Companies in Tax Loss that qualify for the Refundable Offset are also able to receive a cash refund of $0.45 for every dollar of eligible R&D Expenditure to the extent of the Company’s Tax Loss amount.

If you would like to review the eligibility requirements further, please call us for our specialist R&D tax advisers.  We work with R&D partners to maximise your entitlements to the tax incentives in an efficient and timely manner.

Companies are still able to claim their Eligible R&D Expenditure for the 2012 Year by Registering with AusIndustry by the April 30, 2013 Lodgement Deadline.