On 23 August 2011 the Australian Senate passed the Bills to replace the R&D tax concession with the R&D tax credit. In addition to the original proposal, the Senate also passed amendments for the new scheme to start operating from 1 July 2011, as well as to allow for quarterly refundable R&D tax credits made to for SMEs from 1 January 2014.
AusIndustry and ATO, the two government agencies responsible for the administration of the program, will conduct a series of briefing sessions in September. Is is also expected that guidelines and relevant forms will be issued following these briefings.
The Bills and accompanying Explanatory Memoranda are available here.
