Claim your R&D tax credit with Books360.
Books360 helps you maximise your claim whilst doing the heavy lifting for you. The claim process can be complicated and tedious, but we make it easy!
End to end service
We handle most of the R&D tax claim process for you. That includes identifying eligible R&D expenses, submitting the right paperwork, and making sure your credit is accurately applied through your returns.
All-in-one support
With Books360 you get bookkeeping, tax, and R&D credit support all under one roof. We already know your numbers from the ground up: That means we work fast and efficiently to identify expenses and maximize your savings
Meticulous Documentation
Our combination of software and experts make the R&D claim process and your paperwork meticulous. We also ensure that your tax preparers and accountants are all on the same page.
Claim the R&D tax incentive, without the headache
We handle the claims process from start to finish and provide the necessary documentation to back up your claim with the ATO. Claiming the R&D tax incentive can be complicated and tedious, but we make it easy.
How it works:
We conduct an R&D tax study, which identifies your eligibility and the total amount of qualifying R&D expenses you can claim in your tax return
We prepare and file the necessary tax paperwork to claim the R&D credit, if you use Books360 tax. Otherwise, we provide the right documentation for your tax accountant to submit.
We provide required supporting documentation, which is an important prerequisite in case of an ATO audit.
Your business
Must be an Australian domiciled company that is developing (or planning) a unique, non-trivial software, hardware, engineered or manufactured product, process or service.
You need to be able to describe these developments as a series of unknown experiments with unknown outcomes from which you’ve learned along the way
Eligibility snapshot
Companies in any industry can apply for research assistance if they are undertaking experimental activities to build new product and service offerings, so long as they satisfy certain criteria.
Your costs
Must be at least $20,000 on eligible R&D expenses in the last financial year.
Costs can include employees and Australian contractors
Can also include equipment, rent, and other R&D related overheads.
Straightforward R&D submissions process
A high-level summary of Books360’s thorough but straightforward procedure for claiming the R&D tax incentive is below
Step 1: Due diligence
Incudes performing an eligibility assessment and determining the extent of R&D activities undertaken.
Step 2: Prepare application
A submission is made to Ausindustry to formally register the claim. This needs to be made within 10 months after the company’s financial year end.
Step 3: Finalise tax return
Once the registration is received, a tax schedule is prepared for inclusion in the company’s annual tax return
Step 4: Receive tax offset
ATO processes tax offset, with a cash refund received depending on the size of the claim and profit or loss.
Ongoing Co-ordination
Full liaison with the ATO, AustIndustry and management throughout the process.
Frequently asked questions
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The R&D Tax Incentive is a federal incentive aimed at assisting and growing innovation in Australia. The government funds north of $2 Billion per annum towards innovation via this incentive.
The benefit of the R&D tax incentive ranges between 43.5% and 38.5%. The benefit can be actualised either via a cash back benefit or a tax saving benefit - dependant on the profit or loss situation of the company claiming.
If the business claiming has sufficient losses then the benefit is a cash back benefit of 43.5%. If the business claiming is in a profit then the benefit is a tax saving benefit of 43.5%
Should the claiming business have more than $20 Million in aggregate turnover then the benefit is a 38.5% benefit and can only be a tax saving benefit (i.e. the a company with > $20M in aggregate turnover is exempt from the refundable benefit.
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Essentially the R&D tax incentive is a tax offset in a company’s tax return. Should the company have the requisite losses then the offset is utilised as a refundable offset.
In other words a company is dipping into their losses in their current day rather than waiting for their future to match their losses to their profits in order to save tax. The tax rate on the incentive (43.5%) is also higher than a company’s tax rate yielding a higher benefit than the company simply offsetting prior year losses against current year profits.
Should a company be in profit then the incentive is used as an offset in the more traditional sense and the claiming company will have a lower tax expense
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There are many avenues to investigate if your company is eligible for the incentive.
A plethora of information can be found on the ATO website and the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resource for someone wanting to do their own research.
The law governing the incentive is very complicated. Advice can be sought to understand one’s eligibility Feel free to book in a call with us and we will do a free assessment for you.
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A company can claim all eligible R&D activities and expenditure in the financial year being claimed.
A claim can be done for any financial year that R&D occurred provided that the R&D activities were submitted by the required deadline. Limits on the incentive only really come into play when a company has either of these points:
$100,000,000 in R&D expenditure
$20,000,000 in aggregate turnover
Should a company be in one of these categories it is still worth seeking advice as the benefit in these categories can still sizeable even though it is lower than 43.5%.
We’ve got your small business finances covered
Contact us to see how we can help. From bookkeeping, tax lodgment to CFO services, Books360 is the all-in-one financial toolkit your business can count on.