ATCS - Your Partner for R&D Tax Concessions & Rebates

ATCS is one of Australia's leading R&D consultancies, advising companies on how to best access the R&D Tax Concession Program supported by the Federal Government's Private Sector under the R&D Tax Concession Program. Our main focus is removing the compliance burden from companies who wish to concentrate on their core business rather than spend large amounts of time completing forms and considering eligibility issues and ensuring you receive the maximum benefit you are entitled to. At ATCS, where a project is eligible we prepare, submit and register the application. This includes compiling all the technical and financial information needed to satisfy the Government body that oversees the R&D Tax Concession Program (AusIndustry). We have consistently found that this produces the following advantages:

* You stay focused on doing the R&D and running your business;
* Our expertise is used to your greatest benefit;
* The benefit you receive is the maximum benefit you are entitled to;
* We act as a point of contact for queries from Govt agencies;
* You have an objective partner in ATCS, available at any time to assist you.

Contact Information
To arrange a free consultation or if you want to find out whether your business qualifies for the R&D Tax Concession, contact ATCS.

Terrie Griffiths
Principal Consultant

Phone: (02) 02 6582 3159
Fax: (02) 02 6582 3159
Mobile: 0423 622 79

Email: atcs@atcs.info
Website: www.taxconcessions.com.au

ABN: 74 400 803 871

Our Office Supports Enquries Australia Wide

ATCS Assists You:

* Rapidly identify eligible R&D activities / projects;
* Compile the necessary technical information;
* Help you compile the relevant R&D expenditure information;
* Prepare and calculate your claim;
* Complete, lodge & register your application.

Principal Consultant, Terrie Griffiths says "It's surprising the number of companies who are undertaking eligible R&D that are either unaware of the R&D Tax Concession Program or just aren't taking advantage of the tax benefits available to them".

When people think of research and development they often visualise zany scientists in white coats, working over bubbling test tubes to create whiz-bang inventions. That's a common misconception. Be assured you don't have to be a rocket scientist or brain surgeon to be doing research and development, and you don't have to be a huge company with a fully equipped laboratory.

Research and development is an innovation you could be working on to improve a process or develop a new product. Innovation can come in the form of products and services that solve problems and meet the needs of customers. It does not come just from licensing research or spinning off technologies start-ups. It's about building new ideas, not necessarily new technologies.

Overview - The R&D Tax Concession is administered jointly by the Industry Research & Development Board (IRDB), through AusIndustry, and the Australian Taxation Office. The concession is claimed by companies in their company tax returns, but annual registration of R&D activities with the IRDB is a prerequisite for claims.

The main objective of the R&D Tax Concession is to enhance the level of R&D being conducted within Australia. The concession enables companies to deduct up to 125% of eligible expenditure incurred on R&D activities/ projects from assessable income when lodging their company tax returns. The concession aims to encourage increased investment in R&D by Australian companies, in order to make them more innovative and increase the international competitiveness of Australian industry. A 175% concession is also available where R&D expenditure is increased above a base level from the previous 3 years.

IR&D Board Technical Audits
ATCS provides comprehensive support to companies whose R&D activities / projects have been selected by the IR&D Board to be the subject of a technical audit. We are able to help your company assemble the relevant documentation and guide you through the audit process. Many of our clients have found that our representation on their behalf during an audit have greatly simplified and sped up the audit process. Our success rate in this area is unsurpassed, in fact we have never had a claim that we prepared rejected on technical grounds.

Privacy & Confidentiality
ATCS understands the need for privacy, and the confidentiality and security of your information that ATCS gains from you - We offer a personalised service to our clients, with confidentiality being a key policy.

Service Fees
Our fees are performance based and as such provide you with the confidence that we will ensure that the benefit you receive is the maximum you are entitled to, for the benefit of both our organisations. Fees are not payable until your R&D claim is registered with the Govt agency.

R&D Tax Concession Program

Tax Offset / Rebate
- "Cash Back" - The R&D Tax Offset provides eligible companies who are in a tax loss to take their R&D tax benefit in the form of a cash rebate. This is equivalent to a benefit of 37.5 cents per dollar of eligible R&D expenditure.

Where the R&D Tax Concession offers a tax saving of $7,500 for every $100,000 spent on R&D activities, the Offset offers a cash rebate of up to $37,500 for every $100,000 spent on R&D activities. This Offset is paid to the claimant, and is effectively the "cashing in" of tax losses.

If you can answer "Yes" to these 3 questions
and are conducting R&D activities, you may be eligible for the R&D Tax Offset:

1. Is your Group Company Turnover less than $5 million in the financial year ?
2. Have you spent less than $1 million on R&D in the financial year ?
3. Will you be in a tax loss position for the financial year ?

This initiative fosters the growth of companies by providing them with timely support and can increase the cashflow of companies when they most need it. Companies that currently carry forward their R&D related tax losses can now realise these losses as a cash equivalent payment once their tax return for the year is assessed.

Please note, if you intend to claim the R&D Tax Offset, you MUST NOT lodge your tax return for the financial year until you have completed the Registration process.

175% Premium Tax Concession - The 175% Premium Tax Concession is in addition to the 125% concession for additional R&D expenditure and is available to companies who have an immediate 3 year consecutive tax concession history.

The 175% Premium is based on R&D expenditure levels above the 3 year rolling average relating to R&D salaries & wages, contractors, eligible feedstock and other items that qualify for the 125% tax concession. The 175% does not apply to expenditure on plant, leasing, core technology and other items not eligible for the 125% tax concession.

The 175% Premium can also be applied against the R&D Tax Offset, which effectively produces a rebate of 52.5 cents in the dollar.

Is Your Business undertaking R&D?
If you answer YES to some of the questions below, your project is likely to be eligible for the R&D Tax Concession:

1. Do the R&D activities you undertake concern:

- a technical problem that cannot be resolved on the basis of publicly available information

- an original idea

- experimentation in the form of testing or trials to resolve the technical uncertainty

2. Will your company bear BOTH the financial & technical risk associated with the R&D ?

3. Does your company have control over its R&D project/s & effectively own the R&D results or potential results ?

4. Will the results of the R&D activities be exploited on normal commercial terms AND to the benefit of the Australian economy ?

5. If the principal aim of the project was to develop a new software product, is the resultant software product intended for 'multiple sale' ?

Here are some prompts to help you identify the innovation and/or high levels of technical risk in your project:

Innovation

1. Difference between the functions & performance of the product from other competing products

2. What is new & different about your product

3. Does the project result in a reduction in cost or an improvement that is substantial & economically significant

Technical Risk

1. What are some of the problems or limitations of existing products or technology & how does your project address them

2. What are some of the main problems / failures that you expect to encounter during the project