Summary of Changes to the SR&ED program

Written by Raj Phalpher.

This blog summarizes the technical and financial changes made to the SR&ED program as of Jan 2014.

Technical:

For project descriptions, CRA wants project descriptions to include the following five elements:

1. What were we trying to achieve and what technological (not technical) challenges we encountered? Why technology sought exceeds prior limitations?

2. What hypothesis was formulated to address the technological challenge? How does a new idea close the gap?

3. What scientific work was done to prove / disprove the hypothesis? How this work advances the technology sought?

4. Did the work result in scientific advancement?

5. Clearly demonstrate the planned approach including:

o The experiments and/oranalysisconducted,

o The results obtained, their interpretation, and

o The conclusions.

A good example illustrating these aspects is as follows:

1	Challenge	Smartphones GPS unable to retrieve the location information indoors
2	Hypothesis	Is it feasible to use LLA (Latitude-Longitude-Altitude) markers, which once scanned could possibly provide accurate location coordinates?
3	Work Done	Developed code, hardware, etc. to use LLA markers; tested LLA markers in various conditions
4	Conclusion	LLA markers did not work because……brief explanation, or LLA markers worked and we have successfully developed the ability to make GPS work indoors

Financial:

These stringent new requirements are coupled with a reduction in tax credits. These reductions are more significant for larger corporations; for small, private corporations (CCPC’S), the following are reduced:

Proxy from 60% to 55%
Contract work from 100% to 80%
Capital from 40% to Zero