A federal court case with judgement dated 16 December 2024 (with The Commissioner of Taxation as the Applicant and a number of parties as Respondents) has declared that respondents were promoters of tax exploitation schemes to secure R&D tax offsets pursuant to Division 355 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth) for a number of companies. Very large penalties have been levied in the case and the liquidations of two entities listed as respondents were noted in the judgement as being on hold pending the outcome of […]
In the May 2024 federal budget, The Albanese Government announced a strategic examination and review of Australia’s R&D system to align it with national priorities and improve outcomes. This week, Ed Husic has announced specific details to launch the review, the first such comprehensive review in nearly 20 years. The review will assess how to maximise the value of R&D investments, strengthen industry linkages, and support national priorities. The review will examine existing systems, such as the Research and Development Tax Incentive […]
An AAT decision handed down in December 2023 (Active Sports Management Pty Ltd and Industry Innovation and Science Australia) previously found that activities in respect of development of a customised basketball shoe were not eligible under the R&D Tax Incentive. It was found in the AAT case that, “none of the Claimed Activities were core R&D activities within the meaning of subsection 355-25(1) of the ITAA 1997..” ACTIVE SPORTS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD applied to the federal court to appeal the decision and the Federal […]
AusIndustry have recently published a case study to provide practical examples for eligibility of activities involving machine learning. It’s probable that this guidance has been in response to a rising number of claims involving AI and ML type activities. The examples in the case studies will assist R&D entities identify when they might have eligible R&D activities, and what information is relevant for assessing and showing eligibility. In an earlier Swanson Reed blog post in recent weeks (titled: Assessment of AI related activities […]