Following on from Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s calls for business to identify regulatory road blocks to investment, Industry Leaders have named proposed cuts to the R&D Tax Incentive as their key concern. An AFR article published today has reported that industry leaders consider reversing $4B in cuts over the estimate periods from the two preceding budgets as being the single most valuable lever available to the government to encourage business investment. The article had also noted industry lobby association StartupAUS’ […]
The Federal Government handed down their budget on 2 April 2019 and whilst there appeared to be no specific new changes proposed to the R&D Tax Incentive, the forward estimates cost of the programme is projected to reduce by $1.35 billion. It is not clear whether this cost reduction is a product of: The legislative changes proposed in the last federal budget being introduced. These changes were recently the subject of a Senate Economics Committee review that recommended the changes […]
The Senate Economics Legislation Committee conducted a public hearing in Melbourne on 30 January which heard submissions from various stakeholders including: Cochlear Ltd; Brickworks Ltd; CSL; Dulux Group; The AFR has reported that representatives from these groups have consistently argued that continual change to R&D Tax Incentive introduces uncertainty and reduces Australia’s relative attractiveness as an investment location. In fact, R&D spending in Australia has fallen by over $2 billion since 2013-14. The proposed intensity threshold for companies with annual turnover […]
Reports have emerged in the media recently of software development companies that have been subject to adverse R&D Tax Compliance proceedings. Whilst the benefits available under the R&D Tax Incentive are significant, these reports affirm the need to ensure R&D claims are completed with diligence, and in accordance with the current reporting expectations. Recent publications from ATO and AusIndustry on software development activities have highlighted current regulatory compliance focuses, which include the need to: Detail the specific hypothesis, or central […]