What is an FTCAS: First-time claimant advisory service? The first-time claimant advisory service (FTCAS) is a free, mandatory service conducted either via video or teleconference. During this meeting, first-time scientific research and experimental development (SR&ED) claimants can meet with local Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) SR&ED staff to learn more about the SR&ED Program. If you are a first-time SR&ED claimant selected…
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On average, the CRA receives 20,000 claims a year from Canadian-controlled private corporations, partnerships, and sole proprietorships. And, again on average, the government will issue over $4 Billion CDN through the SRED tax credit program. A couple of the most common questions we get asked is “what makes a good SR&ED project” or “how can…
DetailsAs of January 1st, 2020, Alberta cancelled the provincial Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax credit. Instead, as of January 1, 2021, Canadian-controlled private corporations who conduct R&D in Alberta with eligible expenses are able to apply for the Innovation Employment Grant (IEG). The IEG is meant to work hand-in-hand with the Job Creation…
Details[Article contents summarized from the media release in the link indicated below] The Province of Ontario is providing eligible Ontario Small Businesses that have been impacted by the province-wide shutdown up to $20,000. Eligible small businesses that have been required to close or significantly restrict services because of the province-wide shutdown might be eligible to…
DetailsOne of the most challenging questions your SR&ED Unlimited consultant will answer during their consultation with you is the difference between a company project and a project that might qualify for the Scientific Research and Experimental Development tax credit or refund for your corporation. It’s a challenging question to answer because so much of a…
DetailsOver the last several weeks, the Federal and Provincial governments have launched several incentive programs—Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), Innovation Assistance Program (IRAP), Regional Relief Recovery Fund (Ontario). A full list of available assistance can be found here. This is good news for Canadian businesses. However, it does raise the legitimate question about how receiving such…
DetailsThe year 2020 has been dubbed the year of perfect vision. It’s pretty safe to say no one ever envisioned COVID-19 becoming the story of the year the way it has. Whatever our individual opinions and feelings and fears about this situation, and the impact social isolation has had on our lives, Canada’s SR&ED tax…
DetailsWelcome to SRED Spring Training 2020 Lots of things are happening in the world of sport, right now. But perhaps one of the most anticipated events on the sports calendar is the start of Spring Training in Major League Baseball. Fans hope that their team will continue the successful run they had at the end…
DetailsSince it’s the start of a new year, it seems the perfect time to talk about how to better detect when your R&D project has become a possible SR&ED project. The earlier in the process you identify this transition, the greater the opportunities to maximize your claim. Although, if you’re like most people, you likely…
DetailsA couple of the most common questions we get asked is “what makes a good SR&ED project” or “how can I make sure that our SR&ED claim gets approved”. There is never a guarantee that any SRED tax credit claim submitted will always be “accepted as filed”. However, if certain fundamentals of scientific research and…
DetailsEvery year, over 20,000 Canadian-controlled private corporations, partnerships, and sole proprietorships receive in excess of $4 Billion CDN from the SR&ED tax credit program. Yet, despite that, many people still resist participating in the SR&ED program. Among some of the more common excuses we hear… “I’m too busy.” “I’ve got too many things on my…
DetailsThe Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) allows claimants under the Scientific Research & Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax incentive program to describe their SR&ED project work at a technological level, and with a technological focus because this is the level at which SR&ED work must be evaluated. Technological Innovation & New Knowledge The SR&ED program is meant…
DetailsProduct developers and engineers tend to have a certain vocabulary or frame of reference when it comes to their product development processes, which can vary slightly from industry to industry. These terms or concepts are commonly understood and form the background jargon for the work. However, these common industry phrases can be quite different from…
DetailsWhat is SR&ED? Canada’s Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax credit incentive program provides more than $3 billion in tax incentives to over 20,000 claimants annually. It is the single largest federal program that supports business research and development (R&D) in Canada. SR&ED provides small and medium-sized CCPCs (Canadian controlled public corporations) with an…
DetailsCompanies are typically not in the habit of rewarding employees for failing. In fact, whole teams of people can lose their jobs over a failed project. However, failure during the scientific research and experimental development process of your company’s work is extremely useful for your SRED claim. From the SR&ED tax credit perspective, failure means…
DetailsThe CRA pre-screens SR&ED claims, to decide which ones to audit, through computer screening, where artificial intelligence indicates projects for review based on red flags encountered via their predetermined set of risk management algorithms, or human assessment. Sometimes, claims are randomly selected for review. Since the computer and random options are automated, let’s look at…
DetailsMany highly hopeful researchers, developers, innovators and engineers confuse these two terms … technical uncertainty and technological uncertainty. We already tackled the confusion around technological uncertainty and system level uncertainty involved in the SR&ED process in our article Technological vs System Uncertainty in SR&ED Claims. SR&ED is About the Journey not the Destination One of…
DetailsOn March 31, 2015, Judge D’Auray from the Tax Court of Canada in Montreal rendered a ruling that set a precedent for what constitutes “uncertainty” under the CRA’s SR&ED tax credit guidelines. Her ruling also highlighted the role different levels of uncertainty can have on an assessor’s review of a case. Prior to Judge D’Auray’s…
DetailsMost countries around the world have some form of R&D tax credit program. In fact, more than 90 of the OECD’s top-performing countries have R&D tax credit programs including the U.S., China, the Netherlands, the UK, and France. These countries, as well as Canada, use OECD guidelines to define what constitutes industrial/business R&D: “Experimental development…
DetailsThe Ontario government’s 2018 budget included increased provincial funding through the Scientific Research & Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax incentive program. This increased funding is aimed at helping businesses engaged in scientific research and experimental development in Ontario drastically reduce costs associated with research and development, and consequently grow their business. Ontario’s SR&ED tax incentive program…
DetailsWhat is an SR&ED Consultant? SR&ED stands for the Scientific Research and Experimental Development tax credit program, which is available to companies operating in Canada in a variety of industries who invest and engage in experimental development in Canada. Click here to see a list of some industries to which SRED might apply. Consultant is…
DetailsSRED Unlimited will be attending the following events. Hope to see you there! Event #1: 2018 Joint Ontario-on-a-Chip and TOeP Symposium (Hosted by: University of Toronto) Date: Thurs, May 24 & Fri, May 25 Where: University of Toronto Event #2: 20th Annual Rotman Lifelong Learning Conference for Managers and Executives…
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