Recently, Canada Revenue clarified what constitutes actual work that falls within the boundaries of scientific research and experimental development tax policy parameters. It’s essential for the technical personnel who are familiar or responsible for any SR&ED claims you are working on.
Some of the topics include:
- Methodology to determine if work meets the definition of SR&ED
- Was there a scientific or a technological uncertainty?
- Did the effort involve formulating hypotheses specifically aimed at reducing or eliminating that uncertainty?
- Was the overall approach adopted consistent with a systematic investigation or search, including formulating and testing the hypotheses by means of experiment or analysis?
- Was the overall approach undertaken for the purpose of achieving a scientific or a technological advancement?
If your staff have not seen this document it might be a good time to have them review it (released April 2014). It is available on the CRA website, you can see it here.
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