R&D tax credit change log - general changes April 2009
Changes to the website content are outlined in the table below. Where the wording of a change is brief, it is displayed in the left-hand column, in a shaded box. Other changes, such as new examples, can be viewed via the hyperlink or at the page reference shown in the right-hand column. Minor editorial changes, that don't alter the meaning of the content, are not reflected in the change log. To check a specific area of the R&D website for changes, please use these links:
- Did you know?
- Assess your eligibility
- Eligible business
- Excluded organisations
- 'On behalf of' criteria
- Find out what activities are eligible
- R&D activities aimed at resolving scientific and technological uncertainty
- R&D activities involving an appreciable element of novelty
- Research and development tax credit in information technology
- Types of eligible expenditure
- Net cost of items processed or transformed by R&D
- Items processed or transformed
- Government grant funding
- Minimum expenditure threshold
- Internal software development
- Keeping records to support your claim
- Filing and Notice of proposed adjustment - periods
- Filing requirements for groups and partnerships
- File your detailed statement on line
- Content on detailed statement
- Managing changes, corrections and disagreements
- Additional information and help
Did you know?
| Nature of the change | Reason for the change | Location of the text |
|---|---|---|
| Did you know? | ||
| Delete the section "When will the detailed statement be available". | This section has been superseded by the availability of the detailed statement. |
Page 3 of RTF document Site area: Did you know? |
Assess your eligibility
| Nature of the change | Reason for the change | Location of the text |
|---|---|---|
| Assess your eligibility | ||
| The questionnaire has been deleted and replaced with a high level flow chart. Further flow charts appear at the beginning of relevant sections. | User testing, following the launch of the website in March 2008, indicated that the questionnaire was generally regarded as unhelpful. Users got lost. |
Page 10 of RTF document Site area: Assess your eligibility |
Eligible business
| Nature of the change | Reason for the change | Location of the text |
|---|---|---|
| Eligible business | ||
| Flow chart has been added to the beginning of the section. | The flow chart provides a high level visual introduction to the section's content. |
Page 11 of RTF document Site area: Assess your eligibility |
Excluded organisations
| Nature of the change | Reason for the change | Location of the text |
|---|---|---|
| Excluded organisations | ||
| The phrase "any combination" replaced by "one or more" in the list of ineligible businesses.
"The following businesses are not eligible for the tax credit:
|
The replacement phrase is directly from the legislation and eliminates ambiguity. |
Page 13 of RTF document Site area: Excluded organisations |
'On behalf of' criteria
| Nature of the change | Reason for the change | Location of the text |
|---|---|---|
| 'On behalf of' criteria | ||
| Flow chart has been added to the beginning of the section. | The flow chart provides a high level visual introduction to the content. |
Page 15 of RTF document Site area: "On behalf of" criteria |
Find out what activities are eligible
| Nature of the change | Reason for the change | Location of the text |
|---|---|---|
| Find out what activities are eligible | ||
| Flow chart has been added to the beginning of the section. | The flow chart provides a high level visual introduction to the content. |
Page 23 of RTF document Site area: Find out what R&D activities are eligible |
R&D activities aimed at resolving scientific and technological uncertainty
| Nature of the change | Reason for the change | Location of the text |
|---|---|---|
| R&D activities aimed at resolving scientific and technological uncertainty | ||
| Flow chart has been added to the beginning of the section. | The flow chart provides a high level visual introduction to the content. |
Page 29 of RTF document Site area: R&D activities aimed at resolving scientific or technological uncertainty |
R&D activities involving an appreciable element of novelty
| Nature of the change | Reason for the change | Location of the text |
|---|---|---|
| R&D activities involving an appreciable element of novelty | ||
| Flow chart has been added to the beginning of the section. | The flow chart provides a high level visual introduction to the content. |
Page 35 of RTF document Site area: R&D activities involving an appreciable element of novelty |
| Section has been re-written following consultation on research and development in information technology. | The expanded content provides more guidance on "an appreciable element of novelty". | |
Research and development tax credit in information technology
| Nature of the change | Reason for the change | Location of the text |
|---|---|---|
| Research and development tax credit in information technology | ||
| A section has been added following consultation with the IT sector. | Identifying R&D in the IT sector, especially software, poses a number of challenges. We have provided guidance on these issues. |
Page 38 of RTF document Site area: Research and development tax credit in information technology |
Types of eligible expenditure
| Nature of the change | Reason for the change | Location of the text |
|---|---|---|
| Types of eligible expenditure | ||
| Flow chart has been added to the beginning of the section. | The flow chart provides a high level visual introduction to the content. |
Page 75 of RTF document Site area: Types of eligible expenditure or depreciation loss |
Net cost of items processed or transformed by R&D
| Nature of the change | Reason for the change | Location of the text |
|---|---|---|
| Net cost of items processed or transformed by R&D | ||
| This section, and the example in it, has been reworked to emphasise that it is the raw material costs that are netted off against the sale price (or value) under Schedule 21 part A clause 8 of the Income Tax Act 2007. |
This issue was raised in the original consultation on the draft content and has been the subject of further consideration. The revised content reflects the result of that consideration. |
Page 82 of RTF document Site area: Types of eligible expenditure or depreciation loss |
Items processed or transformed
| Nature of the change | Reason for the change | Location of the text |
|---|---|---|
| Items processed or transformed | ||
| As above, in the discussion of excluded expenditure types changes have been made to reflect the raw materials focus. | As above. |
Page 89 of RTF document Site area: Items processed or transformed |
Government grant funding
| Nature of the change | Reason for the change | Location of the text |
|---|---|---|
| Government grant funding | ||
| Flow chart has been added to the beginning of the section. | The flow chart provides a high level visual introduction to the content. |
Page 94 of RTF document Site area: What expenditure is excluded from a claim? |
Minimum expenditure threshold
| Nature of the change | Reason for the change | Location of the text |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum expenditure threshold | ||
| Flow chart has been added to the beginning of the section. | The flow chart provides a high level visual introduction to the content. |
Page 102 of RTF document Site area: Minimum expenditure threshold |
Internal software development
| Nature of the change | Reason for the change | Location of the text |
|---|---|---|
| Internal software development | ||
| The flow chart has been reformatted. Additional links and legislative references have been added to the section. | The flow chart format has been altered for consistency with the new flow charts. The content is unaltered. | Page 107 of RTF document |
| The titles of the examples and some content have been amended in examples relating to "Is the R&D activity internal software development?" | The changes better reflect the legislation when there is intent to use the software in the internal administration of the business - or in the business of an associate. | Page 108 of RTF document |
| The paragraph and example on software with the main purpose of sale has been deleted. | The paragraph has been deleted as it omitted reference to LH 17(a) and if reworked to include it would not have added anything to the existing advice on "What is internal software development?" | Page 145 of RTF document |
| Paragraph on firmware has been expanded slightly. | To provide clarity. |
Page 146 of RTF document Site area: About the limit on internal software development expenditure |
Keeping records to support your claim
| Nature of the change | Reason for the change | Location of the text |
|---|---|---|
| Keeping records to support your claim | ||
| References to Tax Administration Act 1994 added. The phrase "There are no specific record keeping requirements for the R&D tax credit" has been deleted. | References added for completeness. In the light of the Tax Administration Act references the deleted statement was technically incorrect, although what the sections do is impose the standard requirements. |
Page 163 of RTF document Site area: Keeping records to support your claim |
Filing and Notice of proposed adjustment - periods
| Nature of the change | Reason for the change | Location of the text |
|---|---|---|
| Filing and Notice of proposed adjustment - periods | ||
| The text has been redrafted to state as follows:
"Claimants have more time than usual to finalise their R&D claim, in some circumstances.
If your dispute relates solely to an amount of R&D tax credit, you have two years from the date your income tax return was filed to us to issue a Notice of proposed adjustment (NOPA). Normal response periods apply in all other cases. If (and only if) you did not include an R&D tax credit amount in your 2008-09 income tax return, you also have two years from the due date of your income tax return to submit an R&D tax credit detailed statement. This must be accompanied by a NOPA, if you wish to have your income tax return reassessed to include your claim for an R&D tax credit." |
To provide clarity. |
Page 132 of RTF document Site area: Get ready to file your detailed statement |
Filing requirements for groups and partnerships
| Nature of the change | Reason for the change | Location of the text |
|---|---|---|
| Filing requirements for groups and partnerships | ||
| Amendments made to section on missing a due date due to a simple oversight, to expressly refer to both partnerships and ISDGs. | Accuracy of content. |
Page 136 of RTF document Site area: Get ready to file your detailed statement |
File your detailed statement on line
| Nature of the change | Reason for the change | Location of the text |
|---|---|---|
| File your detailed statement on line | ||
|
Link added to Online Services. Section on how to access the detailed statement added. |
Detailed statement is now available on line. |
Page 138 of RTF document Site area: File your detailed statement online |
Content on detailed statement
| Nature of the change | Reason for the change | Location of the text |
|---|---|---|
| Content on detailed statement | ||
| This section has been updated to reflect the minor changes that have been made to the questions that the DS asks. | Accuracy of content. |
Page 139 of RTF document Site area: What you'll need to complete your detailed statement |
Managing changes, corrections and disagreements
| Nature of the change | Reason for the change | Location of the text |
|---|---|---|
| Managing changes, corrections and disagreements | ||
| Links have been added to this section. | To increase ease of site navigation. |
Page 143 of RTF document |
Additional information and help
| Nature of the change | Reason for the change | Location of the text |
|---|---|---|
| Additional information and help | ||
| A 'Contact us' section with our 0800 number and postal address has been added under 'Additional information and help'. | To enable customers to contact us. |
Page 191 of RTF document Site area: More information and useful links |
Date published: 24 Mar 2009
Back to top
