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Legislation and Parliamentary Matters

New Federal court matter (May 2026) finds the occurrence of R&D Tax evasion schemes

June 5th, 2026

A federal court case, with a judgement dated 28 May 2026 has declared that a respondent contravened s 290-50(1) of the TAA regarding several taxpayer schemes involving the R&D Tax Incentive. The R&D Tax Incentive has been a focus of the TPB and ATO in recent years, with several published matters involving the promotion and misuse of the incentive to make aggressive or invalid claims. Substantial penalties can be imposed and should significantly deter advisors and companies seeking to misuse the benefits available […]

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Significant concerns over announcement in May 2026 to limit Refundable R&D Tax Offset to firms operating less than 10 years

May 18th, 2026

Swanson Reed’s initial analysis of the R&D announcements in May 2026 are summarised here. After we considered these proposed changes in greater detail, we are particularly alarmed about a proposed change announced in the Budget to the R&D Tax Incentive that we feel has not been communicated well nor understood by those whom it may impact… We fear the announced proposal to limit access to the Refundable R&D Tax Offset to firms operating less than ten years will be determined based on an […]

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May 2026 Federal Budget Update: Significant future changes proposed to R&D Tax Incentive

May 13th, 2026

Leading up to the May 2026 Federal Budget there were reports of modest changes likely to be made to the R&D Tax Incentive (mainly around increases to expenditure thresholds) however there was not expected to be any major reforms announced given that: The Government had only recently (in March 2026) received the final report from The Strategic Examination of R&D; It was anticipated that The Government would conduct consultation before proposing any major changes to th R&D Tax Incentive. Surprisingly, in the […]

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Reports that R&D Tax Changes to be announced in May 2026 Federal Budget

May 7th, 2026

The 2026–27 Australian Federal Budget will be delivered by Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Tuesday, 12 May 2026. The AFR has reported today that:   Treasurer Jim Chalmers is expected to raise the current $150 million cap on R&D expenses that can be claimed, in a move that will immediately help tech giant Atlassian and hearing device maker Cochlear, but is also aimed at making Australia a more internationally competitive investment destination. A review of the R&D and innovation system led […]

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