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The 30th April R&D Tax incentive lodgement deadline looms fast and why good record keeping is paramount.

April 30th Lodgement Deadline Approaches

TCF NEWSLETTER | 12.03.2020


Please note – There have been many changes and updates to these programs over the past few years. We love legacy content, it shows a history, it shows that we have always cared about these programs and notifying our client base. For more up to date information, please check our News or get in contact with us.


R&D Tax Incentive Lodgement Deadline is fast approaching, don’t miss out!

Please be reminded that if you have not already prepared and lodged your 2018/19 R&D “registration of R&D activities” application with AusIndustry, it is important to note that the 30th April lodgement deadline is looming fast for companies with a standard 30th June reporting year end.

It is also important to note that the R&D Tax Incentive is a self-assessment program requiring claimants to keep contemporaneous records that track the progress of their R&D activities and quantifies the costs associated with the activities being claimed. If you don’t have the records to substantiate your claim you are running a risk so it’s important that this is reviewed and established now.

Simple things like:

  • populating an annual R&D project plan,
  • writing monthly technical reports,
  • taking photos evidencing stages of prototype work and
  • completing weekly time-sheets for R&D staff

are paramount in maintaining your successful participation on the program as well as good business practice as it establishes and values your greatest asset; your IP.

Don’t get caught out!

Here are a few reasons why claims can be rejected after review or audit:

Poor and/or insufficient R&D record keeping – Records must be contemporaneous; projects must be broken down and tracked by activities (core, supporting and ineligible); Weekly time-sheets are required to confirm the percentage of time /salary to be claimed by R&D staff that relate to eligible R&D activities; Technical reports should be written regularly that evaluate the results of the experiments including knowledge gap evidence to prove the knowledge is not already in the public domain; evidence that the R&D manager or CTO is a competent professional in the field and not playing industry catch up or learning a new technique.

Whole of project claim approach – claiming the total costs of running the business whilst it’s in start-up phase with no revenue on the basis that it’s all risky and contingent on the success of the business.

Claiming business model innovation in absence of high levels of technical or scientific risk – just because the new business model disrupts the old and uses technology to do so does not constitute eligible R&D under the program.

Claiming unpaid associated party fees – if an entity or person is associated in any way with the R&D entity the fees for R&D services must be paid by the 30th June in the year of the activity to allow the benefit to be claimed and paid. Otherwise it must be carried over in the tax return until the payment is made, after which the benefit can be claimed in later years.

Claiming late superannuation payments – Claiming superannuation on R&D staff where the super was not paid on time or before the end of the financial year. Generally, compulsory superannuation payments paid late (outside the time limits) can’t be claimed as a business deduction, which also means that any late quarterly super payments relating to eligible R&D staff may not be eligible to be claimed under the R&D Tax Incentive. If the financial year’s last quarter’s super is not paid by 30 June (ie, acknowledged by the complying superfund as received by 30 June), then that contribution cannot be claimed as a deduction in that year and must be claimed in the following year – don’t get caught out.


– The R&D Tax Incentive Lodgement Deadline –


Services
Ryan can assist with services such as:

  • Scope your potential to claim various grant programs
  • Assist with the preparation and lodgement of grant applications
  • Review or provide a health check on your internally prepared grant applications
  • Establish record-keeping practices as required under various grant programs
  • Provide prepayment loans against future cash refunds under the R&D Tax Incentive
  • Keeping industry informed on all new Government policy and grant initiatives

Don’t hesitate to give us a call.

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