AAT hands down ACIS decision on Australian based and off-shore R&D

摘要

The Administrative Appeal Tribunal recently handed down a decision in favour of AusIndustry regarding what constitutes Australian based and off-shore R&D, within the meaning of the ACIS Legislation and Regulations. The findings in this case equally apply to R&D claims under the new ATS Scheme. The decision was handed down following an appeal to the AAT by Robert Bosch Australia Pty Ltd. The principal issue in this review concerned the interpretation of Regulations 13G (5)(a) and 13G (5)(c) of the ACIS Administration Regulations 2000. In particular, the point was whether the activities undertaken overseas by the applicant's parent company (and its contractors) could, in the context of the Act and Regulations, be said to be "conducted by" the applicant (Bosch). On behalf of the applicant, it was submitted that regs 13G(a) and (c) concern who undertakes (referring to the definition of "Australian based research and development" in reg 3) or conducts the R&D, not where the R&D occurs.