The Australian Tax Office and AusIndustry have issued guidance to alert companies against claiming the R&D tax incentive for business-as-usual farming activities. Expanding on this, ATO Deputy Commissioner Tim Dyce said that usual business expenditure is normally not eligible under the incentive and the law contains a number of requirements which must be satisfied in order for activities to be accepted. He further explains, “we’re seeing farmers applying soil treatments across their property, in some case thousands of hectares, which […]
AusIndustry and the ATO have recently released joint guidance in relation to the calculation and disclosure of feedstock adjustments. The guidance clarifies that companies are able to “opt-out” of claiming feedstock inputs if the benefit arising from claiming feedstock inputs as R&D expenditure is not commensurate with the compliance requirements for the corresponding feedstock adjustment. When claiming the R&D Tax Incentive, a company is required to make a feedstock adjustment if it supplies or uses products produced during its R&D activities. The […]
According to surveys conducted by the Australian Industry Group, 70 per cent of the 364 businesses surveyed said reducing the tax burden was one of their top three priorities for the Budget. Increasing spending on infrastructure and calling for the Government to bring the Budget into balance over the next five years were also ranked as high priorities. Among the business community there were high priorities placed on increasing the spending on training and apprentices and raising tax incentives for […]
Last week, AusIndustry released version 5 of the R&D activities form. The application now requires more information from the Applicant regarding the nature of core and supporting activities alongside additional administrative information. Whilst the new requirements will require more time and input to complete, Swanson Reed views the changes as positive since Applicants must explicitly assert how their activities are eligible under the legislation. Swanson Reed recommends that all applicants spend sufficient time addressing the requirements of the expanded application […]