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Question 1 : Did your company carry out an experiment (or set of related experiments) or do you know the details of an experiment it will carry out?(required)
Yes No To be eligible, an experiment (or a set of related experiments) needs to take place.
Experiments involve tests being undertaken to investigate a proposition about something unknown, or the effectiveness of something previously untried. They may take place in a range of settings, from a separate laboratory to a normal production run.
When registering activities, you will need to describe the experimental activities that your company undertook. Where your company is yet to undertake the experiment and wants to claim earlier activities that support that experiment, your company will need to be able to demonstrate that it has planned an experiment in the detail necessary to establish it meets the definition of core R&D activities.
Question 2 : Could the outcome of the experiment have been known or determined in advance?(required)
Yes No To be eligible, the outcome of the experiments could not have been known or determined in advance on the basis of current knowledge, information or experience.
This requirement will not be satisfied if:
- experiments merely confirm what is already known; or
‘Current knowledge, information or experience’ refers to what is available in the public arena on a reasonably accessible worldwide basis at the time the activities were conducted. This gap in the current knowledge is often referred to as the ‘knowledge gap’.
You should be able to indicate how your company established that the outcome could not have been known or determined in advance. For example, you may have sought advice from an independent expert or conducted literature searches. The subject of the test or the method of testing may involve features of a type not previously tested in this fashion. Records describing these features should be kept.
Question 3 : Was the scientific method utilised and required in order to determine the outcome of the experimental activities?(required)
Yes No The definition of eligible R&D activities requires that a systematic progression of work is employed in order to determine the outcome of the experimental activities.
This work must:
- be based on principles of established science; and
‘Systematic’ generally means conducted in a planned way, with records kept of the process followed and the outcomes of the process.
A ‘hypothesis’ is a proposition about something unknown, or the effectiveness of something previously untried. A hypothesis can be an idea, theory or fact about something which is unknown or untested.
Refer to eligible activities for further information.
Question 4 : Was the purpose of the experiment to generate new knowledge?(required)
Yes No Experimental activities must be conducted for the purpose of generating new knowledge or information. This includes new knowledge in the form of new or improved materials, products, devices, processes or services.
Seeking new knowledge is distinct from merely applying existing knowledge in a different context or location.
Refer to eligible activities for further information.
Question 5 : Is the activity on the core R&D activity exclusions list?(required)
Yes No Certain activities are specifically excluded from being core R&D activities. Further information on excluded activities can be found on the Core R&D activities exclusions list.
These excluded activities may however be eligible as supporting R&D activities but are subject to the dominant purpose test.
Question 6 : Was the activity conducted wholly or partly outside Australia?(required)
Yes No Without an overseas finding, only R&D activities conducted in Australia qualify for the R&D Tax Incentive. However, where an overseas finding has been obtained, R&D activities conducted overseas may also qualify.
Companies need to apply to AusIndustry for an overseas finding prior to the end of the first income year for which they wish to claim the expenditure on overseas activities. This also applies to parts of an activity conducted overseas.
Refer to information relating to overseas findings for further clarification.
