R&D entities are encouraged to ask questions or log amendments ahead of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) publishing its first annual ‘Report of data about Research and Development tax incentive entities’ in late September 2024.
The report will list companies in various industries that have claimed a benefit under the R&D Tax Incentive (R&DTI) programme in the 2021-22 income year, as part of the Federal Government’s broader approach to taxation transparency.
The report will contain two components – the raw data published on data.gov.au, and an analysis of the data to be published on the ATO’s website.
The report will publish information the R&D entity provided in its company tax return, including: the name of the R&D entity claiming the R&DTI, the entity's Australian business number (ABN) or Australian company number (ACN), and total R&D expenditure.
By providing transparency around how much R&D entities are claiming, the report aims to provide greater openness about the programme’s administration and improve public accountability and voluntary compliance.
The ATO has been in touch with R&D entities that will have their data published in this first report, and their tax agents, to inform them and give them an opportunity to lodge an amendment to their R&DTI claim, if needed.
The ATO is required to publish the R&D data two years after the end of the financial year that the data relates to. The delay in publishing this information is designed to address any perceived commercial sensitivity of the data.
The R&DTI is a key programme for Australia’s biotech sector, with AusBiotech-led research revealing the R&DTI generated a return of $3.14 for each dollar of forgone tax revenue spent in the biotech sector in 2021.
AusBiotech has been a long-term, vocal proponent of the R&DTI, championing the programme and its significance to Australia’s biotech sector since 2012. AusBiotech, on behalf of industry, advocated to retain the programme after the RDTI Bill proposed amendments to the policy in 2019.
More information about the R&D tax transparency report can be found on the ATO’s website. Questions about the report can be sent to the ATO.