Senate amendments
The Tax Laws Amendment (Research and Development) Bill 2013 was passed late [on] Tue 10.2.2015 by the Senate with 2 amendments moved by the Palmer Unites Party (PUP). Those amendments provide for 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.
- For expenditure above id=”mce_marker”00m, companies will be able claim a tax offset at the company tax rate.
The amendment will take effect from income years beginning on or after 1 July 2014 [ie. the 2014/15 financial year for most taxpayers].
The Bill now goes back to the House of Reps for consideration of the Senate’s amendments.
As originally introduced on 14 November 2013, the Bill proposed to limit access to the R&D tax incentive to companies with an aggregated assessable income of less than $20bn.
[LTN 27, 11/2/15]
The Tax Laws Amendment (Research and Development) Bill 2013 has been passed by the Senate (with two amendments).
The Bill amends the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 to deny access to the research and development (R&D) tax incentive for companies with aggregated assessable income of $20b or more in an income year. The amendment is intended to limit the R&D tax incentive to smaller businesses that are more likely to increase their R&D spending in response to government incentives.
The measure was previously introduced in a Bill that lapsed when parliament was prorogued for the 2013 federal election. It was originally announced on 17 February 2013 as part of the previous government’s Industry and Innovation Statement, A Plan for Australian Jobs.
As for a starting date, Senator Cormann said the Senate had “delayed the starting date by one year, to 1 July 2014”.
[IT 11.2.15]
Bill awaits Royal Assent – Senate amendments passed in the House of Reps
The House of Reps [on Thur 12.2.2015] agreed to the Senate’s amendments to the Tax Laws Amendment (Research and Development) Bill 2013 and the Bill now awaits Royal Assent. The Senate amendments provide for 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. For expenditure above id=”mce_marker”00m, companies will be able claim a tax offset at the company tax rate. The amendment will take effect from income years beginning on or after 1 July 2014.
[LTN 28, 28.2.15]