From April 2019, your business could be eligible for a tax incentive based on R&D expenditure. The New Zealand Government launched the inventive program to boost (R&D) expenditure to 2% of GDP over 10 years.
Under the scheme there will be a number of criteria and compliance obligations to meet.
Here are the main features of the R&D tax incentive:- a credit rate of 15%
- a $120 million cap on eligible expenditure
- a minimum R&D expenditure threshold of $50,000 per year
- a limited form of refunds for the first year of the scheme that will mirror the R&D tax-loss cash-out scheme run by Inland Revenue. A more comprehensive policy will be in place for the second year of the scheme
- a definition of R&D that ensures the credit can be accessed more easily across all sectors, including the technology sector
- the inclusion of state-owned enterprises, industry research cooperatives, levy bodies, and minority-owned subsidiaries of select Crown entities.
