If your income year ended on 30 June 2021, the deadline to submit your 2020/21 application is 3 May 2022.
 
Even though the 30 April statutory deadline has been extended to the next business day in all States and Territories, don’t wait to log into the customer portal and start your application.

Applications can only be submitted through the R&DTI customer portal.

To access the portal, applicants need to set up a myGovID account and link this to their company’s ABN using the ATO’s Relationship Authorisation Manager. You must do this before you can authorise others to access the portal or submit an application for the program.

The process has some important requirements and should be started early to ensure you meet the deadline. Step by step instructions are available at business.gov.au.

Go to ato.gov.au to access guidance on setting up myGovID or using the Relationship Authorisation Manager.

Guidance on using the R&D Tax Incentive’s customer portal is available from AusIndustry’s portal help and support page on business.gov.au.

Don’t wait to set up your access to the portal and start your application. 

On 26 and 27 February 2022, we updated our Customer Portal and application form.
 
One significant change is to the information required for core and supporting R&D activities undertaken by a non-levy collecting Research Service Provider (RSP) or Cooperative Research Centre (CRC).
 
Previously, if you reported that an RSP or CRC had conducted an activity, you were only asked to fill out a subset of questions in the core and supporting R&D activity sections of the application form. Now you will need to fill out ALL fields in those sections of the form.
 
If you created a draft application in the Portal before the updates were made, you will get an error message if you try to submit the application without completing all the fields now required for the RSP or CRC activity.
 
Other changes and guidance to complete the application form can be found on Business.gov.au/rdti.
 

Administration of the R&D Tax Incentive has been supported by the Industry Research and Development Regulations 2011 and the Industry Research Decision-making Principles 2011.

The Regulations direct the way we manage approved forms, finding certificates and requirements for Research Service Providers (RSPs). The Decision-making Principles apply to decisions on applications for extension of time, refusal to make requested findings and variations of registrations.

The Regulations and Decision-making Principles automatically end after 10 years unless they are remade before that time. The remade Regulations were registered on 21 March 2022 and are available from the Federal Register of Legislation. They commenced on 22 March 2022. The Decision-making Principles are expected to be remade and registered before 1 April 2022. The remade instruments contain minimal changes to ensure consistency and continuity.

These changes were informed by public consultation and include:

• adopting the 2020 Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC) codes in all application forms (the 2008 ANZSRC codes were prescribed in the 2011 Regulations)
• removing duplication in reporting and registration for RSPs by taking out the requirement to demonstrate they are “competent” as described in subsection 3.02(3) of the Industry and Research Development Regulations 2011
• changing the maximum period allowable for extensions of time from three months to 92 days so that the period of extension is the same regardless of the month in which the application for an extension of time is made under the Decision-making Principles.

Watch for updates in our next newsletter and visit our website at business.gov.au/rdti for more information on administration and requirements for the R&D Tax Incentive.

Interested in learning more about the R&D Tax Incentive? Join us for one of our upcoming webinars.

Guide to the R&D Tax Incentive

For those new to the R&D Tax Incentive, this session will walk you through an overview of the program, explain the key eligibility criteria that you should review and assess before you apply, discuss the application process, and provide tips for keeping records.