The following Bills received Royal Assent [on Thursday 5.3.2015]:
Tax Laws Amendment (Research and Development) Bill 2013 – Assent as the Tax Laws Amendment (Research and Development) Act 2015, Act No 13 of 2015.
As originally introduced on 14 November 2013, the Bill had proposed to limit access to the R&D tax incentive to companies with an aggregated assessable income of less than $20bn. This was to commence on 1 July 2013.
However, the Bill was amended to delete its provisions and replace them with a reduced tax offset for expenditure above id=”mce_marker”00m. The amendments introduce a cap of id=”mce_marker”00m on the amount of R&D expenditure that companies can claim as a tax offset under the R&D tax incentive. The amendments will take effect from income years beginning on or after 1 July 2014.
Acts and Instruments (Framework Reform) Bill 2014 – Assent as the Acts and Instruments (Framework Reform) Bill 2015, Act No 10 of 2015. The Bill implements a number of the outstanding recommendations of the 2008 Review of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003. It makes a number of other amendments to improve the operation and clarity of legislative frameworks for Commonwealth Acts and instruments. The Bill was amended concerning the review of the operation of Act.
[LTN 43, 5/3/15]
The Tax Laws Amendment (Research and Development) Bill 2013 has received assent on 5 March 2015 as Tax Laws Amendment (Research and Development) Act 2015 (Act No 13 of 2015).
The Act provides for a temporary reduced tax offset rate under the R&D incentive for expenditure above id=”mce_marker”00m. A cap of id=”mce_marker”00m will be introduced on the amount of R&D expenditure that companies can claim as a tax offset at the standard rates under the R&D incentive. For expenditure above id=”mce_marker”00m, companies will be able to claim a tax offset at the company tax rate. The amendments will be effective from 1 July 2014.
However, Sch 2 of the Act effectively dismantles the cap of id=”mce_marker”00m as of 1 July 2024.
The above measure replaced a measure included in the bill as introduced to deny access to the R&D tax incentive for companies with aggregated assessable income of $20b or more in an income year.
[IT 5/3/15]