Your business, government grants and tax incentives. Are you cashing in?

Thomas Edison once said that “Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration”.

Unfortunately, going from that inspirational idea to the finished product takes a lot more than hard work. Just like Edison, you also need to invest in a lot of research and development.

And R&D doesn’t come cheap.

Fortunately the Federal Government helps business in two ways: Grants and Tax Incentives

Government Grants – What’s available to you?

You might be surprised to find out just how many different government grants and assistance programs are on offer. The Federal Government’s Grant Finder page can help you work out the grants your business may be eligible for. Depending on your type of business, different grants might be applicable.

However this process can still be very time consuming and confusing. To find out if you may be eligible you need to carefully review the information for each grant and then assess whether it may be appropriate.

There is a better way. Our Grants selection tool is the quick and easy way of finding government grants, loans and incentives for small and medium enterprises. It has been developed for the sole purpose of locating and supplying details of any government grants, loans or incentives for which your business may be eligible.

We will identify any possible government grants, loans or incentives for which your business may be eligible and produce a pending list of potential grants, loans or incentives. By answering some additional questions, we can quickly determine if your business may be eligible for a grant. We will produce a report for you outlining the grants that you may potentially be eligible for.

For each grant we can provide more information on the application process, eligibility, obligations and benefits.

We can assist you with the application process for each grant including preparation of any supporting financial projections or reports.

Get in touch if you’d like us to shortcut the process for you, and we’ll let you know which grants are worth applying for in your situation.

Keep in mind there’s no guarantee a grant application will be successful. That’s one reason the next type of assistance is so appealing…

The R&D Tax Incentive – Are you eligible?

Innovate, and you reduce your tax. That’s the idea behind the Research and Development (R&D) Tax Incentive. It provides R&D tax offsets to encourage businesses to innovate and engage in R&D.

Businesses conducting R&D may be eligible for:

• a 45% refundable tax offset (that’s equivalent to a 150% deduction) for eligible entities with an aggregated turnover of less than $20 million per annum, provided they are not controlled by income tax exempt entities
• a 40% non-refundable tax offset (equivalent to 133% deduction) for all other eligible entities (entities may be able to carry forward unused offset amounts to future income years).

The program is jointly administered by AusIndustry and the Australian Tax Office (ATO).

To register for the tax incentive you must lodge your application within 10 months of your company’s income year.

Each year you must apply to register for the R&D Tax Incentive. This is a self-assessment process for companies using the R&D Tax Incentive Online Eligibility Tool. This will give your company an indication of its eligibility.

It’s important that your company keeps adequate records throughout the year to show it carried out eligible activities in incurring the claimed expenditure.

If you’re eligible for the R&D Tax Incentive but not applying for it, you’re leaving cash on the table. We can help you make sure you tick all the relevant boxes so you don’t miss out.

If the government is offering your business financial assistance through tax breaks, take them!

A little perspiration will be worth it

Remember Edison’s words. The ‘perspiration factor’ can’t be avoided. You need to apply for the grants and tax incentives, but the effort can be well worth it. And we’ll share the load with you.

Drop us a line and we’ll make a time to catch up and have a chat about your eligibility and the next steps required.