The federal budget, traditionally in May each year was deferred by the government until 6 October 2020 due to COVID.
The R&D Tax Reform bill has been uniformly criticised by companies, industry groups and R&D tax professionals, with concerns particularly directed at the “Intensity Threshold” proposal, which would punish companies with large cost bases, such as local manufacturers.
The governments’ insistence of pursuing the reform should also be contrasted against Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s headline in the AFR this week which stated that there would be “No budget deficit repair until jobless rate is below 6pc”.
Swanson Reed calls on all sides of politics to commit to a stable R&D Tax Incentive, and are of the view that the programme would be most effective in achieving its policy objectives if not subject to further proposed changes.