Speaking recently at the BESydney Global Ambassador Program annual gala dinner, Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar has called on the government to retain support for start-ups through initiatives such as the R&D Tax Incentive. Scott Farquhar emphasised that if governments were to ensure that Australians are creators of technology and not just consumers of inventions made elsewhere, then an appropriate environment must be in place to nurture start-ups and transitional businesses. Atlassian is listed on the NASDAQ and has been one […]
At a recent speech, shadow minister for Innovation and Technology Clare O’Neil has made some high-level comments with respect to the R&D Tax Incentive and Australia’s innovation policy. Key points from the speech included the following: Australia’s national spending on R&D is about 1.8% of GDP. World-leading countries are spending more than 4%, and the OECD average today is well above Australia’s at about 2.4%; 2016-17 was the first year R&D spending in Australia actually went backwards; Labor noted […]
Introduction A recent case heard in the AAT has affirmed a previous decision by Innovation and Science Australia (AusIndustry) finding that Activities registered under the R&D Tax Incentive were not in accordance with the legislative requirements. The case: H2O Exchange Pty Ltd and Innovation and Science Australia (Taxation) [2019] AATA 4195 from 14 October 2019 refers to a company that registered R&D activities for the FY14 and FY15 periods. Background The project registered related to the development of an online platform for the cross-border (inter-state) trading of water […]
The AFR has reported that the NSW Government is to form a new advisory council, chaired by David Gonski with a brief to make NSW “the R&D leader within Australia and a world-class contributor”. Forming of the NSW R&D council has also come among calls from the Business Council of Australia for more to be done nationally. The AFR article highlights that Australia has fallen to 22nd in the latest Global Innovation Index, which measures a country’s inventiveness from research and […]