The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) have recently released joint taxpayer alerts on a range of R&D Tax issues. The alerts have highlighted issues identified by the ATO and AusIndustry, such as: Activities registered being ordinary business activities that are not eligible for the R&D Tax Incentive; Expenses included in the calculation of claims that are not for amounts that relate to eligible R&D activities; Expenses included in the calculation of claims that relate to […]
Business operators and advisors are being warned that the Australian Tax Office (ATO) are reviewing tax incentive claims made for ordinary business activities. The following review is intended to target the misuse of R&D claims, and anyone deliberately exploiting the tax breaks will be pursued in court. Misuse of R&D tax incentives consist of: A company registers one or more activities for the R&D Tax Incentive. Some or all of the activities registered are broadly described and non-specific. […]
The arrangements of certain building and construction industry participants that are claiming the R&D Tax Incentive are being reviewed by the ATO and AusIndustry.The arrangements under review concern R&D claimants who are involved in either: Acquiring buildings or extensions Alterations or improvements Constructing, extending, altering or improving buildings. The review applies for instances where some or all of the expenditure: Is incurred on building and construction activities, which are expressly excluded from being taken into account in calculating an R&D […]
In October 2016, Ford Australia permanently ended local manufacturing in Australia which consequently terminated the employment of 580 workers. Ford had been manufacturing locally for 91 years prior to this decision. In 2017, following from this decision, Ford transformed what was previously the Australian head office into the Asia Pacific Product and Development Centre. This newly created facility is the central hub for research and development, driving the innovation of products and mobility solutions, and producing state-of-the-art virtual design and […]