Our thoughts are with those who are directly impacted by the Coronavirus crisis.
The government has announced a wide variety of stimulus measures to assist business cope with the Coronavirus situation.
The stimulus offered is from multiple levels of government and for multiple purposes.
A summary of the measures is available here.
AusGrant has taken measures to protect our staff and clients, and will be fully functional throughout this crisis to support the needs of our stakeholders.
The deadline for R&D Applications is specified in the INDUSTRY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACT 1986 as 10 months after the end of an income year. The statutory deadline for companies to register R&D activities conducted during the year ended 30 June 2019 (i.e. last financial year) is therefore 30 April 2020.
AusIndustry have recently announced that:
- If a company’s R&D application for the YE 30 June 2019 income year cannot be made by the application deadline (30 April 2020) due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, AusIndustry will allow the application to be made by 30 September 2020, without needing to request an extension;
- If a company’s R&D application for the YE 30 June 2019 is unable to be lodged by 30 September 2020, the company may request a formal extension of time;
- A company’s registration number is still required when lodging the R&D Schedule with the ATO;
This means that if a company seeks to derive their tax benefit arising from their claim for YE 30 June 2019 (by way of a cash refund or a reduction in balance of tax liability) in the immediate term, they must still first register the R&D Activities with AusIndustry, and would not be able to defer registration until September.
Where it is possible to do so, we would still recommend that companies still aim to lodge the R&D Applications for the YE 30 June 2019 ASAP, so as to not defer any R&D Tax benefit that may be accrued to the company for this period.
