CBA have announced to the ASX on 18 March that they have entered into a settlement in respect of a tax dispute regarding the eligibility of claims for software development R&D activities.
Below is an extract from the ASX announcement:
The claim amount has not been disclosed in the announcement, however some media outlets have reported disputed R&D expenditure to be in the “nine figure range.”
Whilst very large claims for software development R&D activity will naturally attract scrutiny, the settlement is a timely reminder that software claims are often reviewed with respect to:
Registrations of software development activities should take care to review the latest AusIndustry guidance released in February to ensure they are kept up to date with compliance expectations of the programme regulators.