Don’t believe everything you hear!
Just because you heard a crazy story of someone getting R&D funding doesn’t mean they should have, or won’t have to pay it back. We get approached to claim excel spreadsheets, websites, marketing campaigns, apps, buildings or just the entire project! And, we get told that someone in a presentation said it was ok. Or, they know someone who received a great tax credit for those expenses.
The truth is, someone may have claimed it and may have received a great refund. But most time those things are not eligible. And the problem with a self-assessment system like the R&D Tax Offset, is that it’s all well and good until the ATO comes knocking and asks you to pay it all back, plus interest, plus prior years. That’s enough to send most businesses to the wall.
So here is a true story we heard. A client met a consultant who said they could be getting a lot more funding through R&D Tax. They were a start-up and desperate for funds so they enlisted their help. Two years later they were reviewed by the ATO and had to sell their house and go on a long term payment plan to return all the claimed money for those two years. The consultant was not held responsible – only the claimant.
Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, maybe it is.
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