R+D tax deductions up to 175%?

[SteveDavidson]

I've got a group interested in becoming a Registered Research Agency, meaning that employing them to do various kinds of business research will result in tax offsets ranging from 125% to 175% for the clientele. Sounds like a fairly good deal all around - they get more work, clients get tax reductions.

Anyone here used an RRA, either as a tax reduction strategy or just because they needed some research/thinktanking done? Any anecdotes about RRAs being hired for essentially frivolous tasks purely to get the tax write-off?

[Army of One]

As far as I know the clients employing the RRA services still need to register for the R&D Tax Concessions scheme with the ATO to get the benefits.

Correct me if I am wrong.

It is a very specialised area.

[SteveDavidson]

To my knowledge at the moment (and I'm no expert right now), the lower amounts of deductions can be claimed in a normal business tax return (although they do have to be specifically mentioned). The higher levels need to have an established history of claims with the Tax Office. It's all something that any business accountant (and pretty much any business owner) could do.

The RRAs themselves need to be registered to have claims made against them, and they have certain basic hoops to jump through to get registered. I don't think the businesses need to be registered in order to claim the deductions, though. (I could be wrong, feel free to point me to something if I've missed it.)