INSIGHT

Upcoming deadline for R&D Overseas Finding applications

Rebecca Iwanuscha
By:
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The Australian R&D Tax Incentive (RDTI) is the key federally funded program for encouraging and supporting businesses undertaking innovation, research and development onshore in Australia.

Commonly R&D activities and costs conducted outside of Australia during a financial year are not eligible to be included in your RDTI claim. 

Can overseas R&D activities and costs be included in my R&D Tax claim?

There are certain circumstances where R&D activities undertaken overseas, and the associated costs may be able to be considered under the RDTI. For this, you must first apply for an Overseas Finding. An Overseas Finding includes an Advance Finding about whether your overseas activities are ‘R&D activities’. 

Importantly, an application for an Overseas Finding must be submitted before the end of the financial year in which you conduct (or plan to) the activity. For example, the upcoming deadline for a company looking to submit an Overseas Finding for the June 2024 financial year, is 30 June 2024.

Key conditions for an Overseas Finding 

In addition to the general legislative eligibility criteria of the RDTI (including an eligible R&D core or supporting activity), all of the following conditions need to be met for a Finding to be made that R&D activities conducted overseas are eligible under the RDTI:

  • This means that the Australian core activity cannot be completed without the overseas activity being conducted.
  • These Australian core activities must also be registered with AusIndustry or be reasonably likely to be conducted and registered in the future.
  • There are four allowable reasons that can meet this criteria including:

    i. requires access to a facility, expertise or equipment not available in Australia.

    ii. would contravene a law in Australia relating to quarantine.

    iii. requires access to a population (of living things) not available in Australia.

    iv. requires access to a geographical or geological feature not available in Australia.
  • This means that:

    - the total actual and reasonably anticipated amount to be spent in all income years on the overseas activity; and

    - any other activity conducted wholly or partly outside Australia that has a significant scientific link to the Australian core activities, must be less than the total actual and reasonably anticipated expenditure of any entity in all income years on;

    -the Australian core and Australian supporting activities.

Other important factors to consider 

The Overseas Finding Application must detail information about each overseas R&D activity and demonstrate how each activity meets the  conditions outlined above. Evidence and documentation are necessary to provide support for the information outlined and reasons provided. The application will be reviewed upfront, and the  company will be contacted to advise the finding(s), this process can take at least 72 days from lodgement. 

Even if a positive finding(s) is received that your overseas R&D activity is eligible and covered by an Advance / Overseas Finding Certificate from AusIndustry, the overseas R&D activities must also be registered annually with AusIndustry within 10 months of the end of the financial year that the activity was conducted. 

Overseas Findings generally last for the duration of the activity. If you have an Overseas Finding Certificate from prior years, it is critical that the information provided in the application continues to hold true in relation to the activities to be undertaken and the estimate of the amount of costs provided. For example, you should ensure that the activities being performed overseas in 2024 do not materially deviate from those covered by the Certificate.

We’re here to help

Get in touch with Grant Thornton’s Innovation Incentives team to discuss a possible 2024 R&D Overseas Finding before the lodgement deadline of 30 June 2024.

Learn more about how our Research and Development (R&D) Tax Incentive services can help you
Learn more about how our Research and Development (R&D) Tax Incentive services can help you
Visit our Research and Development (R&D) Tax Incentive page